Some B.C. post-secondary students and staff asking province for mandatory vaccine rules

Many staff and students at B.C. universities are calling for a vaccine mandate to be extended to post secondary institutions.

On Tuesday morning, Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry announced a return to masks in indoor public spaces, including universities, but when it came mandating double vaccinations for students, she said she would not be doing so.

"We know that schools are a safe setting, that the risk of transmission in the school settings is actually very low, even in the absence of vaccines last year," Henry said.

But University of British Columbia professor Mauricio Drelichman says that's the setting he fears most.

"Some of these classrooms can have up to 500 students in the lecture theatre ... and many cases there are activities that require students to interact in different groups to talk to person next to them," Drelichman said.

He said while he has "great confidence in ... students," there will still be some who come on campus unvaccinated because they can.

When Henry was asked whether universities would be able to create their own mandatory vaccine mandate on campus, simply put, her answer was no.

"This to me seems to fit the high-density congregate setting to which vaccines are being mandated," Drelichman said.

She said post secondary institutions can have a policy around faculty and staff being vaccinated, but not students.

Matt McIntyre is a graduate student and teaching assistant at UBC who is vaccinated and he wishes the province would  mandate it for everyone.

"When you're mandating vaccines and masks in places like gyms or sporting events, but you're not doing that in ... classroom instruction with the same people, it doesn't seem to line up," McIntyre said.

However, students living on campus will have to be immunized by Sept. 7.

McIntyre calls that a good first step, but not strong enough.

However, a researcher with the British Columbia Federation of Students, Arielle Reid, told Radio-Canada that Tuesday's announcement strikes a balance post-secondary institutions need right now to allow students to still continue their studies.

At the same time, the vice-president of academic and university affairs with UBC's Alma Mater Society, Eshana Bhangu, says they need some clarity from the province.

"We need to clarify why lecture theatres are different from performance theatres," Bhangu said.

Cole Evans, president of the Alma Mater Society at UBC, echoes in those sentiments.

He said the society was hopeful more restrictions would be put in place to allow not just students, but their professors and staff to feel and be safe.

"If we are in a big lecture hall and not everyone there is vaccinated, how is that different from the potential risk that the province already has identified exists in other gathering and event settings," Evans asked.

He said there are more unanswered questions that students want answered before starting the new school term.

While Henry said she doesn't want to put more barriers in place for students wanting to attend class, many say the provinces lack of mandating vaccines for staff and students could be the very thing that prevents them from going back to class.