EDMONTON — After hundreds of students and staff at the University of Alberta petitioned to bring in a vaccine mandate, the official Opposition is calling on the province to help post-secondary schools prepare for a safe return to campus.
There are three things the provincial NDP wants the government to do.
David Eggan, NDP advanced education critic, said Alberta should create vaccine clinics and rapid testing sites at post-secondary campuses across the province, and help cover the costs of enhanced cleaning protocols, personal protective equipment, and sanitizer.
“We need these measures,” Eggan said. “Student learning and student safety should be priorities for the government."
The advanced education critic said he has heard concern from students, faculty, and staff at post-secondaries across the province about the ramifications of Alberta elimiating testing, contact tracing, and isolation requirements as they plan to return to in-person learning.
Eggan pointed to COVID-19 cases in the province, which have been slowing growing in recent weeks.
“We know that we still have a great more to do to get more Albertans to two doses of the vaccine,” he said. “Let’s take vaccines directly to the students.”
VOLUNTARY MEASURES AT U OF A CAMPUS
A week earlier, hundreds of U of A students, faculty, and staff signed an open letter requesting the province’s largest university make vaccinations and masks mandatory.
The letter, addressed to university administration, cited the need for these measures because the more-transmissable Delta variant has “changed the game.” The petitioners want the university to institute rapid testing and also share ventilation and filtration data to help ensure classrooms and lecture halls are safe for students and staff.
In a statement posted to a blog on the University of Alberta’s website Friday, president Bill Flanagan said that the institution is aware it must move forward with the return to campus with care.
“COVID-19 remains a significant threat, particularly to the members of our community who are not yet vaccinated,” Flanagan said. “I appreciate the concerns that so many of you have expressed. This is a challenging time for all of us as we adjust to a rapidly changing environment.”
In response to masking and ventilation concerns, Flanagan added non-medical masks are no longer mandatory in Alberta and that the university’s ventilations systems are safely designed. He said the university could implement a mandatory mask mandate should there be a temporary outbreak.
“The university has continually adapted plans as the situation has evolved,” he said. “Our shared commitment to the wellbeing of the university community will not change.
“With voluntary measures, we will achieve a very high vaccination rate that will provide our best possible protection against COVID-19.”
The president said the U of A’s COVID-19 planning oversight committee recommended to administration against implementing mandatory vaccination, citing “complex” human rights, legal, collective agreement, and privacy obligations.
“As fall term approaches, we are redoubling our efforts to encourage and facilitate vaccinations,” Flanagan said.
'THROWING SPAGHETTI AT THE WALL': HEALTH LAW EXPERT
Jacob Shelley, Western University associate professor and director of the Health Ethics, Law and Policy Lab, said while Alberta is not unique in its approach of recommending vaccine to those attending post-secondaries, its stance on testing, isolation, and lack of masking is.
Many universities are mandating vaccination for certain high-risk activities, like living in residence or participating in varsity sports.
For Shelley, this distinction between normal campus activities and high-risk ones can be difficult to make.
“It’s hard to know what isn’t high risk in an airborne pandemic,” he said. “It’s perplexing that (universities) seem to be pushing back against the science and the experts.”
It is not clear that in a pandemic, a public emergency, mandating vaccines would be a violation of the charter since it could be justified, the health law expert said. Shelley added that many universities are also concerned about collective agreements and privacy violations.
“It feels like they are throwing spaghetti at the wall trying to hope something will stick,” Shelley said.
- Quebec bars will be safer than university classrooms this fall: McGill epidemiologist
- University of Waterloo to require self-declaration of COVID-19 vaccination status to access campus
Shelley believes part of the hesitation for Alberta post-secondary institutions in implementing stronger health measures than the province is concern they will lose funding from the government.
“If a university was to come out and do something that was explicitly against the direction of the government, that is a line in the sand that they might not want to draw.”
- Should post-secondary schools mandate vaccines for on-campus learning?
- Calgary's post-secondary schools support return to classes, students want to stay safe
The health law expert also pointed out that many universities have program-specific requirements that require vaccination.
“If you work with animal populations in a college or university, you are likely required to have a rabies vaccine,” Shelley said. “The chances of getting bit by an animal with rabies are very small, but it is preventative.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Touria Izri
