COVID? What COVID?

From the Mercury News: College COVID-19 vaccine requirements are facing renewed scrutiny now that California has walked back plans to mandate the shots in K-12 schools and the state and federal governments are ending their pandemic states of emergency. The University of California recently softened its vaccine booster requirement. But immunization mandates continue at public and private campuses across the country, prompting debate as to whether they’re still worth the trouble. Students say that, in some cases, verification procedures tripped up class registration. 

Dr. Arthur Reingold, an epidemiology professor at UC-Berkeley, notes that UC also requires immunizations for measles and chickenpox, and people still are dying from COVID at rates that exceed those for influenza. As of Feb. 1, there were more than 400 COVID deaths a day across the U.S... But Andrew Noymer, associate professor of population health and disease prevention at UC-Irvine, said the mandates are harder to justify for vaccines that don’t stop spread of the virus, especially for young healthy college students at low risk from COVID-19, which mostly afflicts the elderly...

University of California campuses require students to get primary vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be on campus, with medical or religious exemptions. But UC in December softened its booster requirement by allowing an opt-out, the same as for annual flu shots...

Full story at https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/02/11/covid-vaccines-remain-optional-at-k-12-schools-will-colleges-keep-requiring-them/.