Amelia Cabral ‘22 | Emily Staid ‘22
Following the verification of the vaccine, a constant debate has ensued over whether private educational institutions should mandate vaccinations or allow students to have the freedom of choice. While adhering to CDC and state guidelines, the Episcopal Academy Administration has been searching endlessly for the best ways to approach this difficult decision.
Currently, vaccines are available with no cost to all present in the U.S. over the age of 16. To facilitate this process, EA has partnered with Springfield Pharmacy to vaccinate eligible students and has received over 70 doses of the vaccine. With many students receiving their first dose, EA is hopeful that they will become completely vaccinated throughout the upcoming weeks. Upon approval of the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12-15, vaccinations of over eight hundred students between the Middle and Upper School can begin.
On April 27th, the CDC issued a set of updated guidelines that permit vaccinated individuals to remove their masks outdoors and even in indoor, socially-distanced, private environments. Given that student vaccinations may increase further, the EA community hopes to loosen restrictions on campus. Fully vaccinated student Caleigh Dinesmore ‘22 comments, “I think that for school purposes, vaccines should be mandatory. Kind of how it’s mandated that you need some vaccines to go to school, I think it should be the same for the COVID vaccine.” Echoing Dinesmore’s statement, Grace Sheehan ‘22, who was unfortunately delayed from receiving her vaccines due to her COVID diagnosis, adds, “[Since] we are a private institution, we are able to and should mandate vaccinations for all students who qualify.”
In contrast, other vaccinated students acknowledge that some people could have strong moral or political objections to the vaccine. Jasmine Williams ‘22 believes, “Vaccines should be mandatory unless [you] have strong moral or religious objections, for which case you would have to follow all of the restrictions you wouldn’t otherwise have to follow.” Josh Huang ‘22 agrees, “Vaccinations should not be forced onto someone if they [worry about future repercussions] due to prior illness or weakness. However, EA should highly encourage its families and students to become vaccinated and understand its benefits.”
Michael Letts, Head of the Upper School, concludes, “The administration has not had any conversations about mandating the vaccine for next year, but it has been highly encouraging faculty and families to receive the vaccine in order to create a safer environment within the EA community.”