While universities across Canada are making COVID-19 vaccination and/or testing mandatory for staff and students come September, Queen's University has only recommended that staff and students be vaccinated. The lack of requirements over vaccination status has left Queen's students concerned with how their health and lives will be affected by attending in-person classes and living in residence with unvaccinated students and staff. This concern has increased with the rise of the Delta variant, which has now been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be as contagious as the chickenpox (for those of us under 25 who mostly do not know how contagious the chickenpox virus was thanks to the vaccine that became available in Canada in 1998, this means the Delta variant is highly contagious).

Canadian universities such as Waterloo, Guelph, Western, Wilfred Laurier, and many more are requiring students living in residence this school year to have received at least one dose of a Canadian-approved COVID-19 vaccine before the end of their first week living in residence. The students must then have a plan to receive their second dose as soon as possible. Other schools, such as Seneca College, have made it mandatory for all staff and students to be fully vaccinated. There are of course staff and students who cannot receive the vaccine for medical reasons or any other exemption under Ontario’s Human Rights Code (OHRC), therefore, these requirements will not be enforced on these individuals. The University of Toronto (UofT) will thus be providing these individuals with rapid screening kits, and they will be required to screen themselves twice a week and present a negative test within 72 hours before coming to campus.

With all of this in mind, Queen’s needs to implement similar measures as these other Canadian universities and have these measures announced well before the school years starts on September 7. Having Queen’s staff and students that plan to be on campus this year be required to be fully vaccinated, with the option of weekly testing and screenings for those who cannot receive the vaccine, will ensure that staff and students are as safe and feel as comfortable as possible for this upcoming school year. The school could additionally apply these same requirements to students moving into residence and thus allow more students to move into residence (there are currently ~400 students on the waitlist for residence who are struggling to find housing in Kingston). Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is ultimately the safest, most effective option to preventing the spread of the virus, which is another major reason for why Queen’s should require staff and students to receive the vaccine for this Fall.

For more information on our rights regarding COVID-19 vaccination, here is a page that answers COVID-19 and OHRC related questions: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/covid-19-and-ontario%E2%80%99s-human-rights-code-%E2%80%93-questions-and-answers