New Vaccine Policies On Campus: What Does This Mean For Barry’s Admissions
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
By: Camryn Tyrrell
A new “individualized” vaccine policy intended to let people make their own decisions regarding which vaccinations they are willing to receive was rolled out in January of this year by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
I have been curious how that may impact the makeup of a school like ours. Barry University is a private institution with many vaccination requirements for international students and students who live on campus. I truly wonder if these vaccine requirements will be lifted to appease the new government's rules.
Under the new plan, the HHS has outlined an updated vaccine schedule that reduces the number of recommended routine childhood shots from 17 to just 11.
Additionally, the recommendation for newborn babies to receive a hepatitis B shot at birth has been dropped, and COVID-19 vaccination recommendations have been limited, specifically for healthy pregnant women and children.
This new policy further specifies that vaccines for influenza, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus and meningococcal disease are no longer recommended for all children. Instead, these are now only recommended for high-risk groups or following a consultation with a healthcare provider.
In a recent press release, American Public Health Association (APHA) Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin stated he disagrees with the new policy and I can understand why.
“The dramatic decrease in recommended vaccines, coupled with fewer boosters, leaves the American public, especially our children, more vulnerable to preventable illness and death,” he said.
Currently, to enroll at Barry University, all undergraduate, residential, and international students must submit immunization records for MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis), Hepatitis B, and Meningococcal Meningitis. These vaccinations ensure that preventable illnesses do not spread among the student population.
Given these shifts, the vaccines once required to attend Barry University appear to no longer be a requirement for U.S. citizens. By the time of publication, we did not receive contact from Admissions on when or if these rules would be implemented for U.S citizens.
However, the question on everyone’s mind is whether international students will still be required to have these vaccinations to enter the university, and the answer is yes.
As an international student from Bermuda, who lived in a dorm with a communal bathroom during my freshman year, I remember when almost every girl on my floor got sick at the same time, at the beginning of the school year. It was the first time many of us had to share a bathroom with over 20 people at once.
Relaxing these vaccine guidelines could deter international students from living on campus, and by extension, discourage them from attending the university altogether.
I am grateful that in 2022, strict vaccination guidelines were still in place; without them, illness in the residence halls could have been much worse.
International students like me may not feel comfortable entering a country where certain vaccinations are no longer required, especially when living in close proximity to hundreds of potentially unvaccinated people.
If Barry University chooses to drop its requirements to align with this new policy, it could see a decline in international applications. Currently, international students make up around 7% to 12% of the student body.
Furthermore, the university might see a drop in out-of-state enrollment from students who value vaccinations and would no longer feel safe living in on-campus housing. Our current out-of-state population makes up about 38% to 40% of our student body.
The Barry University campus is built on close-knit communities, but those communities can only thrive when students actually feel safe in their own homes. By upholding strict vaccination requirements, Barry University can continue to protect its students from the preventable health outbreaks that communal living often leads to.
We must ensure that "individualized" health does not come at the cost of the entire campus community's well-being.
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