Many Hills seniors may have received the Covid-19 vaccine already, but those who haven’t may be wondering if they will need to in the next school year. As the number of colleges and universities requiring students to get the Covid-19 vaccine continues to grow, people are wondering: are they even allowed to mandate vaccinations? And if so, how?

Prior to the FDA’s approval, the vaccine was under emergency use authorization, and because of this colleges and universities were technically unable to legally enforce any kind of vaccine mandate. 

Since then, the FDA has approved the Covid-19 vaccine. Over 800 colleges across the country have created vaccine mandates for students and staff in response. Some schools are only requiring students to have received their first dose of the vaccine, while others are demanding students be fully vaccinated. 

Although vaccination rates may be less of a concern for smaller schools, institutions with larger student bodies (some the size of small cities) are faced with the challenge of gaining herd immunity within such a large population. To these facilities, a vaccine mandate is not only the best way to stop the spread of Covid-19, but also the best way to allow their students to achieve traditional college normalcy. Assessing Covid-19 Prevention Strategies to Permit the Safe Opening of Residential Colleges in Fall 2021, a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, found that colleges with vaccine rates above 90% can return to pre-Covid-19 campus activities without seeing viral transmission. 

41 states have schools requiring the Covid-19 vaccine this fall. As of now, it is unclear as to whether or not these vaccine mandates will stand until the fall 2022 school year, but it is likely that most Pascack Hills seniors will have to consider getting vaccinated in order to attend college next fall.