The COVID-19 pandemic officially ended a year ago this week, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave governors a 90-day warning that the federal order authorizing emergency action to fight the virus was expiring.
Yet at least 68 colleges across the U.S. still mandate COVID vaccines for students, according to an activist group that seeks to repeal the directives.
In response, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called that “ridiculous” and reminded college kids and the public at large how Florida rejected such orders last year.
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A group called No College Mandates highlighted the data of existing mandates on campuses last week.
The group, according to its website, criticizes the colleges for imposing the jab mandates while ignoring the science and the right of “informed consent” for medical interventions.
As for the science of COVID, No College Mandates argues college leaders are ignoring both the virus’ slight risk to health young adults, as well as the harm caused by “these recently developed and novel vaccines” to many young Americans.
“Institutions of higher learning which impose vaccine mandates do not uphold the very civil rights and liberties they teach and purport to vehemently defend,” the group says on its website.
According to the list, 46 of the 68 colleges are in states led by Democratic governors, including 15 in California alone. The list also includes several elitist left-wing institutions (Harvard, Wellesley College, Oberlin, Bryn Mawr), a few Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Clark, Morehouse, Spelman) and many liberal religious schools.
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They cling to the mandates nine months after the pandemic formally ended, and even though President Joe Biden, who once demanded mandatory jabs for all workers, declined to renew the COVID emergency order.
On Saturday, No College Mandates posted its list on X, adding, “In the last month, zero of the remaining 68 colleges have dropped COVID vaccine mandates. Who are they ‘protecting’ by keeping these policies in place?”
DeSantis replied to that post, saying, “COVID mRNA jab mandates for college students are ridiculous… Glad we protected students and prohibited these mandates in Florida years ago.”
DeSantis outlawed so-called “vaccine passports” in May 2021. The Republican governor signed a bill that banned businesses and government agencies from demanding proof of vaccination.
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“In Florida, your personal choice regarding vaccinations will be protected and no business or government entity will be able to deny you services based on your decision,” DeSantis said at the time.
DeSantis followed that in November 2021 by signing a bill that specifically prohibited educational institutions from requiring vaccines for students.
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