Last week, Rutgers University made headlines by issuing a requirement for all students to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Many called it a step too far, and invasion of privacy, and an overreaction to which Rutgers replied, anti-vaccine students are more than welcome to seek higher education somewhere else. A line has been drawn in the sand. Ironically, it's a requirement they can't enforce on their employees. They've merely "strongly encouraged" that all members of the staff elect a vaccination when it becomes available to them. While they can't force a professor to accept a vaccination, they can choose to end employment with them. It's a weird and wild story of red tape.

After that announcement, naturally, the question posed to every educational center in America is "Will you require vaccinations for students?" Many facilities throughout the country have deferred answering that question, but in Oklahoma, our universities have declared that vaccinations will not be a requirement... at least there's no "current plan" to require students be vaccinated at this point.

Can that change? Absolutely... but perhaps there's an anonymous admission that there is still so little information available for Covid-19 that they will choose to err on the side of caution when it comes to student rights and privacy. After all, they've had the option of collecting the DNA of every student for the past thirty years to better combat sexual assault on campus, but they haven't since that's an invasion of privacy.

I suppose the issue comes back to the rights of students and their families. Most states accept vaccination exemptions, most due to medical or religious beliefs. Oklahoma is the only state that does currently require vaccinations for children but offers very little in the way of exemptions. At least, if you want your child to attend public schools.

I think we're all collectively entering a new era of what will be defined as privacy and medical rights. Citizens will fight against vaccination requirements in any form be it for college, concerts, venues, etc... and it will probably go all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States for their opinion. The Rutgers announcement is just the tip of the iceberg.

For the record, in Oklahoma, Covid-19 vaccinations are now being offered to anyone and everyone that would like to receive it. Got mine at Sam's Club. Expect a sore shoulder.

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