By Lucia Sinatra at brownstone dot org.

It was nerve wracking, to say the least; having a high school student who had gotten into his dream college in mid-December 2020 but was uncertain if he could attend the following fall due to Covid-19 vaccine mandates. Those harrowing days and nights we spent focusing on little else as we scoured college websites to eventually find what we pretty much expected would come to pass. 

It started in April of 2021 when Rutgers University and then Harvard University announced their students would be required to take Covid-19 vaccines prior to enrollment. In these early days, I remember thinking that surely, they will reveal some scientific data showing these vaccines could prevent transmission and severe illness or death to justify the mandates, but alas, the wait was in vain. 

Living up to their cult behavior reputation, by the summer of 2021, over 1,000 colleges announced the exact same fear-fueled narrative and implemented some of the world’s most oppressive mandate policies. By August, millions of college students would be mandated to take primary series Covid-19 vaccines prior to enrollment, many without enough notice to get their deposits back, transfer colleges, or even file for an exemption. The directive was clear: take these novel medical treatments with zero scientific evidence to show you need them, or don’t bother showing up. 

The best and brightest minds in academia never demanded to see the scientific data to justify their colleges’ strict mandate policies and never demanded the reasoning behind their administrations summoning a 100% compliance rate, but instead elevated the propaganda in lockstep fashion. To this day, it is astounding to think of what transpired and that so few questioned the lack of supporting science either because they were aghast to consider that our federal government was responsible for perpetrating the greatest crime against humanity the world has ever seen, or just because it was easier to comply and convince others to do the same. 

Some of us could see the writing on the wall. We knew colleges and universities were going to take this global pandemic opportunity to manipulate and control their vulnerable and young healthy adult populations into compliance, and that is exactly what they did. I kept hoping I was wrong, and once more data was released, these institutions would reverse course, but I was wrong then, and I still am now.

Health science students are still being coerced to take Covid-19 vaccines either prior to enrollment in their institutional program or prior to the start of their practical training at hospitals and clinical partner programs. In fact, they are the only college students still being coerced to take Covid-19 vaccines, and most of the time, it feels as though there is no end in sight.

When President Trump signed Executive Order 14214, he promised to end federal funding to colleges that still mandate Covid-19 vaccines. However, that has not happened yet, and who knows if it ever will? For example, the majority of health science degrees in our country are conferred by colleges and universities, and health science students at some institutions are still required to take Covid-19 vaccines. Why haven’t these institutions been defunded in accordance with EO 14214? 

To be clear, it is not new that health science students have different vaccination requirements than students who are not health care majors. However, regarding Covid-19 vaccines in particular, the faculty and staff who teach these students at the college program or at the hospital or clinical facility where they are required to complete practicums are often no longer required to take these vaccines. 

In sum, we have a number of institutions that have yet to be defunded as promised by President Trump, and we have students at those institutions who are subject to unjustifiable disparate treatment. So, what gives? 

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea other than these colleges have not been held accountable for their unscientific continuation of Covid-19 vaccine mandates for health science students. Non-healthcare students at all US colleges are no longer required to comply with Covid-19 vaccine mandates to enroll, yet health science majors who share the same classrooms, dining halls, and residence halls are still subject to mandates to either enroll or complete practicums or both. 

It is our position that these blatantly discriminatory policies persist because explicit action has not been taken to end them. 

On April 5, 2024, Representative Mark Messmer (R-IN) introduced H.R. 3044, and it has gained widespread support. This newly introduced legislation proposes to codify EO 14214 by promising to “withhold federal funds for any college or university that continues to mandate a required COVID-19 vaccination.” It is a good start as it is generally harder for a future administration to reverse a bill that has become law rather than an Executive Order, but our position is that the bill is incomplete. No College Mandates, which has led the fight to end all college student Covid-19 vaccine mandates, along with several signatories, has formally requested that before the bill becomes law, it must be amended. 

For H.R. 3044 to definitively end all Covid-19 vaccine mandates in higher education, it must be amended to explicitly include all teaching programs required for health science students to complete their degree. To clarify, not only must federal funding be removed from all colleges, universities, and any other institutions that continue to mandate Covid-19 vaccines, but also all teaching programs at hospitals and clinical partners with whom these institutions contract to provide practical training so that students can freely apply to and enter practicums, clinical rotations, internships, and residencies which all degree-granting institutions have made a requirement for graduation. 

A few weeks ago, we mailed this letter to all the Representatives who are supporting this bill, requesting explicit amendments including those outlined in the previous paragraph. We have also emailed the letter to each of the senior staff members and have followed up with several phone calls making our case. From the positive feedback we continue to receive, we are hopeful that the Representatives are willing to consider and incorporate our proposed amendments to H.R. 3044.

However, I have one simple ask. We cannot get the Representatives to devote proper attention to these amendments without your help. Please take a few minutes to print a copy of our letter and mail or email it to the Representatives, encouraging them to amend the bill, as well as to your own Representative and Senators. Together, we might just put an end to health science student Covid-19 vaccine mandates. If you’ve never taken any action to end college student Covid-19 vaccine mandates, this is a wonderful opportunity, and it may just make all the difference.