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SARANAC LAKE – To attend classes on the North Country Community College campus this semester, students will need to be vaccinated.
Classes start Monday, but students will have until September 27 to get the shot, a college spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday. College employees will not be required to be vaccinated. Everyone, regardless of their immunization status, should be masked inside.
College administrators were hoping there would be fewer mask protocols to follow during the fall semester as the pandemic appeared to end in the summer, NCCC communications director Chris Knight said. The recent increase in the number of cases, in part due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, has prompted college administrators to change their plans. The college’s vaccination requirements also changed when the United States Food and Drug Administration gave full approval for the Pfizer vaccine on Monday. Prior to that, the vaccine had only received emergency use authorization.
Knight said NCCC administrators knew this FDA approval was coming, so they were ready and already telling incoming students that they would likely need the vaccine to be on campus.
All colleges in the State University of New York system, of which the NCCC is a part, are required to require vaccines for people to be on campus and use its facilities. Unvaccinated people can still take NCCC courses if their program offers courses entirely online. The college provides a combination of in-person, online and hybrid learning.
It was difficult to redo these last-minute changes, Knight said, but after a year and a half of constant changes they have “Learned that we have to be on our guard. “
It’s possible that the vaccine’s mandate will alter people’s plans to attend the NCCC, Knight said.
“We hope this doesn’t affect anyone’s plans, that they had already planned it”, he said. “But if not, there is a chance that we have students whose plans change.”
The college had a question and answer session with the students last night and there is another one tonight at 7pm.
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Vaccine
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Although classes start on Monday, there will be a ” Grace period “ for the pupils to be vaccinated. They have until September 27.
“It is possible that in the first two weeks we will have students who are not fully vaccinated on campus. said Chevalier. “That’s why we’ve adjusted our masking guidelines. “
The college will require students who are not yet vaccinated to be tested for COVID-19 every week until September 27. He said it would be done through pooled saliva tests and would be offered free to students.
After that, all students on campus will need to be vaccinated, but the college will still encourage weekly testing. Anyone who has obtained a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine will also need to undergo weekly testing.
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Masks
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The college originally planned not to require vaccinated people to wear masks. Now, masks should be worn regardless of vaccination indoors – classrooms, common areas and hallways – except when eating and drinking in the cafeteria.
This mask requirement will remain in effect after September 27 and will last until the fall semester.
Sarah Shoemaker, associate professor of health sciences at the NCCC, said she has been pushing for the universal mandate of indoor masks because she believes it is safer and fairer for everyone if anything everyone wears a mask.
“Requiring that only unvaccinated people wear masks would essentially reduce their vaccination status”, said the shoemaker. “We didn’t want to promote this kind of ‘altering’ culture. We are one college.
Recent research has shown that vaccinated people infected with the delta variant could be just as contagious as those who are unvaccinated, prompting the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to release new guidelines suggesting everyone , regardless of their vaccination status, to wear masks indoors in places where there is a “substantial” Where “high” level of community spread. Franklin and Essex counties are currently in this “high” level category.
Vaccines still provide additional protection against COVID-19.
“There is always an advantage for vaccinated people to wear masks and to be around vaccinated people”, said the shoemaker. “The vaccine is not shielded. It offers a very high level of protection against hospitalization and death. “
She added that she no longer wanted to impose masks, but that it is the safest way to run the school now.
“None of us look forward to having to teach with a mask, to have to watch students wearing masks” said the shoemaker. “But safety was more important.”
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Student life
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Students now live on campus – student athletes moved in early August – and more are moving in this week.
Acting Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Kim Ireland wrote in a post that 90% “Student engagement will continue to be offered virtually. “
“We have had great success engaging our three campuses and fully online students,” she said. “Virtual events are an enduring trend and will continue to be part of our offerings for years to come. “
For athletics, the college follows the guidelines of the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Student athletes, coaches and spectators outdoors do not have to wear masks when training or competing
Indoors, athletes will not have to wear training or competition masks, but will need to work while on the bench or on the sidelines. Coaches and spectators will also have to hide inside.
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“An abundance of caution”
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Shoemaker said she felt the exercises from the college plan “an abundance of caution” and that with her policies, she feels safe enough to return to class after teaching remotely during the pandemic.
But she felt that requiring students to get vaccinated, and not employees, was a “inequitable policy” and one “double standard.”
Shoemaker recognized that it may be easier for the college to mandate things from its students, who sign an agreement, than with employees, who sign contracts. She believes that more legal measures are needed to impose vaccines on employees.
“It’s easier, legally, to demand things from students” said the shoemaker. “Ethically, personally, philosophically? … I believe that what is demanded of our students should be demanded by our staff. I think this is a feeling that is shared by the majority of teachers.
Shoemaker said she was happy the SUNY System waited for FDA approval to mandate the vaccine.
“I think it was important for the comfort of the people”, she said. “I’m an advocate for vaccines, but I’m also, probably more, an advocate for bodily autonomy.”
Shoemaker said she can sympathize with those struggling with this tenure, but said they’re important to campus safety.
Shoemaker spoke to some of these students making this difficult choice. She said they were reluctant to get the vaccine, that they did not object to it. When they chat with her, a professional in the field, she tries to allay their fears. Being nervous about a vaccine is normal, she said.
“We have abundant access to information, and a lot of it is bad information” said the shoemaker.
All students in allied health programs – massage therapy, practical nursing, associate’s degree in nursing, and radiation technology – must be vaccinated for placement in a clinical setting, according to state guidelines for healthcare workers.
Students can apply for a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine by September 22.
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