Email Subject: Justice for Spunky!
Dear President Drake, University of California (UC) Regents, and Leaders,
We are active members of the UC community, including students, parents, alumni, faculty, and staff.
We regret to inform you that the evidence below shows mandatory COVID-19 vaccination is currently disapproved by the majority of governments and colleges today. If your administration’s position represents the will of the UC community, can you please show us your evidence?
We observe that your administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate position stands more in conflict with governing norms in the Summer and Autumn of 2022. Every week more government entities and organizations are rejecting vaccine mandates, given new scientific evidence and for ethical and legal reasons (listed below), of which you’re already aware. We demand that UC does not mandate any COVID-19 booster (and drop all COVID-19 mandates). Students must have their rights to bodily autonomy, a core California value, restored.
The policy has evolved with the data. Data shows that Europe, with a few exceptions, always provided the option to test or prove natural immunity, rather than take the vaccine. Specific to universities, UK, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark never imposed mandates. Denmark and Norway are recommending the vaccines for only over 50s or 65s . Japan always assured its citizens that no vaccination may be given without consent, nor discrimination based on vaccine choice, and New Zealand dropped all vaccine mandates on 26 September.
In the USA, the Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s vaccine mandates for large employers, and on September 18, 2022, President Biden, on a '60 Minutes' interview, declared the COVID-19 pandemic “over.”
Recently, the New York Supreme Court ordered reinstatement and backpay for fired unvaccinated workers. The court orders revoking the mandates, considered them “arbitrary and capricious pursuant to CPLR 7803,” meaning “without sound basis in reason and is generally taken without regard to the facts.”
On October 17, 2022, Moderna’s CEO, Stephane Bancel, loosened his COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for people 50 years and above.
Other Higher Education Institutions Do Not Have Vaccine Mandates, UC is an Outlier
No College Mandates is tracking over a thousand (1064) universities in the USA . Among them, only 18 universities (less than 1.7%) require the Bivalent Boosters (one with option to decline), 604 do not require any vaccination, and 203 don't require boosters.
Of the 77 universities tracked in California, 17 dropped all mandates, and another 5 don't require any boosters. Besides these universities, 81 California community colleges don't require any COVID-19 vaccines or will drop all mandates in the near future (Spring 2023).
Universities now recognize infections occur regardless of vaccination status, and consider the risk-benefit analysis for ages 18-29 based on FDA data. You can expect international and out-of-state students to pay tuition and attend universities which respect their bodily autonomy.
US Federal Agencies and Pfizer Do Not Have Booster Mandates, UC Should Not Either
In alignment with the November 22, 2021 emergency order by President Biden, the White House and all government agency employees, including from the CDC, NIH and FDA, do not have a booster mandate. The order follows the CDC’s current definition of fully vaccinated as having completed the primary series, it does not include a COVID-19 booster. The NIH encourages booster for their staff and contractors ,but does not require them. Reporting vaccinations and boosters status is voluntary. Pfizer gave its U.S. employees and contractors the option to take the COVID-19 vaccine or participate in weekly testing.
For the full letter, please click the link below.
https://factstransparency.wixsite.com/uc-consultation
Thank you!
