The University of Utah and the state of Utah will require students to get the COVID-19 vaccine

Two of Utah’s largest universities will require students attending in-person classes to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The University of Utah and Utah State University announced Friday that they will begin establishing immunization mandates for their campuses as the coronavirus continues to spread. Decisions are an important fact in a conservative state that has generally hesitated to regulate personal decisions during the pandemic.

They are the first publicly funded schools in Utah to make progress in demanding the vaccine.

“This global health crisis has transformed two years of our lives and continues to impact our communities,” the U president wrote. Taylor Randall in a message to students about the decision. “Many of us have lost loved ones or seen the health of friends and family permanently changed by this virus.”

Under state law, mask warrants are still banned for higher education here. And universities are only recently allowed to have vaccination warrants.

The United States and Utah said the logistics of their new requirements are still being discussed; more details are expected next week.

“We’re working to see what it looks like,” U.S. spokesman Chris Nelson said.

Mandates at both schools only include students (not teachers or staff) at this time, although there will be more discussions about this. And there are still no deadlines set for when those enrolled in face-to-face courses will have to receive their opportunities. Those who only take online classes do not have to meet the requirement.

Medical, religious, and personal exemptions will be allowed, as all public schools currently allow other vaccine requirements, such as measles, mumps, and rubella. This is required by the state.

Nelson and Amanda DeRito, a spokeswoman for the USU, said students will likely have to show vaccination tests or an approved exception form before spring classes begin in January.

DeRito noted, “We want to make sure we throw it in the best way possible.”

Earlier this year, the Republican-dominated Utah legislature had banned K-12 public schools and colleges from requiring the coronavirus vaccine to attend.

But this rule only applied to vaccines used under emergency authorization.

On Monday, also the first day of classes for U.S. students, the Food and Drug Administration granted full authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. This opened the door for universities here to demand this specific vaccine, if administrators want.

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines cannot yet be applied because they remain under emergency authorization. Students, however, do not have to obtain a specific feature to meet the requirement.

Other undecided universities

At the U., the state’s flagship university in Salt Lake City, the mandate could include up to 33,000 students there. Nelson, however, noted that about 67% have already been vaccinated.

This leaves approximately 9,000 people in need of vaccination.

Earlier this week a petition had been launched to apply for a warrant at the school and it had been signed by more than 1,400 students and staff. One immunocompromised student said: “Some people find it dramatic when I say it’s life or death. But for some of us on this campus, it really is. ”

The group that launched the call, UnSafe U, announced Friday the decision of a warrant saying, “Thank you for doing the right thing, University of Utah.”

At USU, there are 28,000 students on approximately half a dozen campuses. Most attend the location north of Logan, Utah, and then the locations in downtown Price and southwest Blanding. The school does not have an exact estimate of how many will need to get the vaccine now with the requirement.

Together, the two schools represent 61,000 of the 189,000 higher education students in Utah. That is about a third.

The Salt Lake Tribune contacted the remaining six universities and public colleges on Friday. Most said they were still thinking about whether or not to go ahead with a vaccine warrant.

This includes Utah Valley University, Weber State University, Salt Lake Community College, Southern Utah University, Dixie State University and Snow College.

“Right now, the message we’ve shared is that we encourage vaccines and we encourage people to wear masks, knowing it’s a personal choice,” spokeswoman Marci Larsen told Snow College.

“We haven’t decided yet,” spokesman David Bishop told SUU.

Salt Lake Community College sent an email to students and staff reporting that it would also consider possible requirements, especially as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

Dixie State said it does not need vaccines “right now” and plans to continue assessing the virus’s status before taking action.

UVU professors wrote a letter this week to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox asking for a mask warrant for schools; he has only indicated that he opposes vaccination warrants. Orem School is the largest university in the state with 41,000 students. But President Astrid Tuminez said she was hesitant to take strong action during a Higher Education Council meeting this week.

The council president, who oversees the eight public schools, had on Friday sent a letter to all university presidents encouraging them to explore a vaccination policy for their students.

Harris Simmons wrote: “The Board considers vaccines to be an effective method of reducing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our campuses open. As you assess the needs of your campus and region, we encourage you to consider making COVID-19 vaccines (free of charge) for your students. “

Ultimately, however, he noted that it would be up to each campus to decide.

A second similar petition led by teachers was also launched this week to get all schools in the system to need the vaccine. It had more than 2,100 signatures on Friday afternoon.

“We will come out stronger”

Prior to Friday’s pair of announcements, another school, Westminster College in Salt Lake City, had instituted a vaccine. It did so before the full authorization of the Pfizer vaccine and it was able to do so because it is a private institution.

Both Westminster and Provham’s Brigham Young University, also a private college that is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, require masks. They are exempt from the Utah legislature ban, which only applies to state public schools.

Last year, all state universities were able to require masks and most did.

Of any Utah university, BYU has had more cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. It has tracked 5,476 students and staff from March 2020 to before this fall semester. The school has been battling a more conservative group of students who have organized parties and some students who have retired due to public health measures.

USU followed with 3,355 cases before the current school term. Last year high levels of the virus were detected in dormitories when classes began testing for wastewater. And about 300 students were quarantined in their rooms.

Utah State spokeswoman Emilie Wheeler said this year that there are also several students in quarantine (though not as many) as they have begun to settle. These individuals have not yet been vaccinated.

Classes at the school begin Monday.

“We really encourage students who, if they want to be able to attend face-to-face activities and classes, need the vaccine,” Wheeler said.

The USU has said, however, that it will not need vaccination to attend football matches this fall.

Both the United States and the state of Utah will host vaccination clinics on campus to make it easier for students to get their vaccine.

The U. has registered 3,062 cases of COVID-19 from March 2020 until the start of the new semester.

With the university operating the state’s largest medical school with a hospital postponing it, many doctors have championed mask mandates and stronger vaccination rules.

Nelson, the spokesman there, said state leaders intend to discuss the need to vaccinate health workers, such as those in the U.S., next week.

Now that the U. has a vaccine mandate for students, there are only two schools left in the Pac-12 athletic conference that do not have this requirement: Arizona State University and the University of Arizona. Arizona state law prohibits them from pursuing the case.

Vaccination mandates are becoming more common at universities across the country, including many in California and Oregon on the west coast, as well as New York University and others in the east.

In the U.S., President Randall wrote, “We encourage each of you to continue to treat each other with empathy and understanding as we work through the ever-changing circumstances of this pandemic. We will come out stronger at the end of this school year. when we reunite now as a family at the University of Utah. ”

—The Salt Lake Tribune reporter Scott D. Pierce contributed to this story.