Fresno-area community colleges will mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for students, staff
Students and employees on campus at Fresno City College or any of its sister colleges will have to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccine beginning Oct. 15, after trustees voted to establish a mandate.
The State Center Community College District board voted 5-2 Monday evening, with trustees Bobby Kahn and Richard Caglia casting “no” votes.
The decision follows in the footsteps of the California State University and the University of California, which made COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory, except for certain medical or religious exemptions, for the fall 2021 semester.
The California Community College system has left the decision to mandate the vaccine up to each district.
The decision came down the same day the Pfizer vaccine became the first COVID shot to win full approval from the FDA for those 16 and older.
As of Aug. 17, 26 districts, representing about 55% of the state enrollment, have mandated the vaccine, according to State Center Chancellor Doug Houston. One of those districts is only mandating for students, and two are only mandating for employees.
Houston said the problem with mandating the COVID-19 vaccine is that it may infringe upon personal liberties. He said he also understands the need to keep his students and employees safe.
He recommended the board vote to wait on a mandate and instead continue to require masking and re-establish social distancing in classes and workspaces.
Caglia agreed with Houston. The trustee, who also owns Caglia Environmental, said he received his vaccination in the spring, “mainly to lead by example for the close to 300 employees that we have working for our various family companies.”
But the company chose to “not mandate our employees, but encourage them, knowing that we have multiple protective measures in place that we continue to practice.”
Dr. John Zweifler, a physician working with the Fresno County Public Health Department, recommended the board require vaccines. He said masking and attempting to distance helps, but “even with all of these measures, we’re seeing large numbers of cases emerging in schools throughout Fresno County and the state of California.”
He said the delta variant is becoming a threat to education.
“Vaccinations are not perfect, as we have seen breakthrough cases, but data has shown that vaccines are close to 90% effective in reducing infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.”
SCCCD employees passionate about mandate
Many employees called into the board’s special meeting on Monday evening to voice their support or disagreement with the mandate. The meeting was called off from its original time Friday after more than 700 participants tried to get into the Zoom meeting, which had to be changed to a webinar format for all members of the public to view.
Board President Annalisa Perea said the board also received letters about the decision — 36 for a mandate and 13 against it.
While many employees were passionate about requiring the mandate to feel safe, some expressed fear and worry.
Kenneth Chacón, an English instructor at Fresno City College, said he knew of several people lost to COVID-19 but was concerned that students wouldn’t know their rights.
“Despite being disproportionately affected by COVID, brown and Black people, our students, remain vaccine-hesitant,” he said. “What will the mandate mean to them? Have we done any studies at all?
“Number two, this is an age of equity and social justice. How are we empowering our students by not affording them autonomy over their own bodies, their bodies, their choice?”
A California School Employees Association survey showed 77% of respondents supported a mandate, but a State Center Federation of Teachers survey showed only 52% did.
The union remained neutral on whether to support the mandate as of Monday, according to President Keith Ford, who spoke to trustees. Leaders will help work with those who need medical or religious exemptions, Ford said.
“Regardless of my personal beliefs or desires, it is simply not SCFT’s job to enact policies and procedures for the District,” he said. “It is yours.”
Speakers were mostly instructors and employees, but Student Trustee Nikki Medina has spoken to many students who don’t mind getting the vaccine.
“Being on campus has been a luxury to a lot of us that we realize we missed out on last year, during COVID,” Medina said. “Knowing that if that’s all it requires for us to be able to be on campus, I don’t think that’s a huge loss, especially because we have the option to be online and, you know, hybrid classes and whatever else.”
VAERS Data
In Houston’s presentation to the board, he included information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems, or VAERS, a government-run database fueled from reports from healthcare providers and the public.
The information included a high number of deaths attributed to vaccinations, which has been unfounded, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which has reported vaccine deaths are rare.
“While very important in monitoring vaccine safety, VAERS reports alone cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness,” a disclaimer on the website reads.
“The reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable. In large part, reports to VAERS are voluntary, which means they are subject to biases. This creates specific limitations on how the data can be used scientifically. Data from VAERS reports should always be interpreted with these limitations in mind,” VAERS says on its website.
Several speakers expressed fear of a vaccine mandate after reading information from the VAERS website.
“It is appalling to me that anybody would be on board with taking away rights and liberties from people for personal health choice,” said Sage Vindiola, who described herself as a single mother of nine. “I’m not putting anybody else at risk. I’m just choosing not to take an option that could end my life or give me paralysis ...”
Trustee Deborah Ikeda said she was worried about people’s free choice hurting those who cannot yet be vaccinated, such as children under 12.
“If your individual liberty not to vaccinate didn’t affect others, then I’d be fine with that decision to leave it up to people’s individual choices,” she said. “Unfortunately, in this instance, if you don’t get vaccinated and you get COVID, It’s possible you will spread it to those who cannot get vaccinated.”
Madera Community College President Angel Reyna told trustees he looked through data recently and found that the demographic with the lowest vaccination rates are 18- to 29-year-olds. That also makes up about two-thirds of the students at his college.
When does the mandate go into effect?
State Center is home to Fresno City College, Reedley College, and Clovis and Madera community colleges. Classes began Aug. 9 at all campuses.
The vote comes after coronavirus hospitalizations have begun rising again due to the delta variant, after falling during the summer.
The administration is still figuring out how students and employees will show proof of vaccination, Houston said, but the mandate will go into effect on Oct. 15.
Exemptions for religious beliefs and medical conditions will be honored, according to the resolution. Any other person would have to show proof of vaccination before “physically accessing any District building, classroom, library gymnasium, facility, or other indoor space.”
Students could be removed from in-person classes, disciplined, or expelled for failing to or refusing to comply with the requirements, the resolution read. Employees could be subject to disciplinary measures or have pay withheld.
After the vote, Perea said in a statement that “it is the responsibility of the Board to act based upon the recommendation of medical experts and sound science to protect the health and safety of our students, our employees and the greater community as part of our efforts to provide continued learning opportunities during this pandemic.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 7:31 PM.