Editor: On Tuesday, March 29, the lead front-page headline in The Citizensâ Voice read: âShots not requiredâ (for students slated to return to the Misericordia, Kingâs and Wilkes campuses).
This is followed immediately by the headline: âCOVID-19 numbers take turn for the worse in NEPA.â Is this ignorance or irony? (Attribution: Melvilleâs âBilly Buddâ).
Yes â as Misericordiaâs spokesperson Amy Bachman notes, those with a medical reason to not get the shot should be exempt. No â encouraging versus requiring is not relying on science â as one would hope our academically based, science-based institutions would do.
Yes â the majority of the traditionally college-age students may be challenged in obtaining their vaccination. No â that does not exempt them from protecting their fellow students, faculty and staff. Yes â the evidence is that the traditional college-age students are often those that most challenge, and often ignore, the established safety protocols â think spring break.