Hundreds of students attending the University of Rhode Island (URI) have been able to obtain vaccine exemptions alleging religious motives and filling out an online form.
The school provides students with a one-page form where they can apply for exemptions by checking a box that says they do not wish to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine.
They should also be initialized alongside claims detailing the potential risks of not getting vaccinated and the possibility of being asked to evacuate campus if an outbreak occurs, according to The Providence Journal .
Other Rhode Island schools are reportedly requiring students seeking religious exemptions to provide a personal statement explaining why getting the vaccine doesn’t fit their faith or why they don’t want to be inoculated.
According to the newspaper, about 1,080 URI students have been exempted from receiving the coronavirus vaccine and most exemptions have been granted for religious reasons. According to reports, this figure represents seven percent of students enrolled in face-to-face classes.
Ellen Reynolds, director of health services at the URI, told the Journal that most students are granted exemptions as long as they fill out the form, staying in line with the protocol the school has applied for other religious exemption applications that apply to vaccines for diseases such as hepatitis, influenza, and measles. .
“I think the discussion was that we wanted to be consistent with what we do with our other mandatory vaccine applications for religious or medical exemptions,” Reynolds said. “Therefore, as a state entity and public school, we believed we would continue to be consistent with what we have done with other diseases.”
According to Reynolds, medical exemptions have been more difficult to obtain for students. He told the newspaper that these exemptions have only been distributed for a small number of conditions, citing anaphylaxis as an example.
He went on to explain that students could apply for religious exemptions just because they do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I think because the state of Rhode Island doesn’t traditionally require any kind of clergy or religious attestation of the form, that’s always the possibility,” Reynolds told reporters.