Announced on November 1st, 2021, the University of Pittsburgh has decided that it would mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for ALL university students and staff. By December 6th, 2021, if students and/or faculty are not fully vaccinated, including booster shots for all versions of the vaccine for COVID-19, they face termination and removal from the university. This decision presents a huge problem, as the university itself does not offer online alternatives for students that choose not to accept the COVID-19 vaccine, leaving many students without an affordable degree and a tough choice to make regarding their own health. This new change was not only announced within a short window, but was made after the college had previously introduced a plan to allow non-vaccinated students access to facilities and continue operating under a COVID compliant ruling.

It is our constitutional right to make medical decisions involving our own bodies; as we know ourselves best. By this mandate being passed, it is expected that the University of Pittsburgh's enrollment and admissions rate will drop substantially, as many feel not enough research has been done regarding the new COVID-19 vaccines. New symptoms, especially regarding the Moderna vaccine, have been breaching their way into the news; such as Myocarditis, a condition in which inflammation occurs in the muscle of the heart in relation to an infection and is caused by the body's immune system. Cases related to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations have occurred and have been recorded by the CDC. In addition to new symptoms being recorded via the VAER's reporting system, the continued use of incentives to those that receive the vaccine has grown to an alarming rate. No other vaccine, in my day and age, has used tactics such as paying recipients additional wages or a bonus to roll out a vaccine. The University itself has engaged in conducting a giveaway for students that had been vaccinated and disclosed their status to the University. These tactics throw a red flag to many students aboard the campus.

As someone with family members, direct and indirect, that have suffered severe adverse side effects for the vaccine, I feel this change could potentially harm other students, myself and faculty alike. It is our right to utilize our freedom to choose medical care for ourselves, and the second we give up that right, we begin to give up the freedom our founding fathers wrote into the constitution upon the creation of this nation.

Please join us in our fight to ensure we continue to hold our right to choose.