Vaccine clinic at Confederation College (STAFF PHOTO)
Thursday, October 7 and Monday October 18.
Those are the dates that full vaccination is required to attend anything on campus for Lakehead University and Confederation College respectively.
Both institutions announced vaccine policies over the summer requiring students and staff to be fully vaccinated by a certain date if they wish to participate in classes and labs on campus.
In a statement from LU, the school stressed that their vaccination rates are promising, and that the process of providing proof is straight forward.
“We’re very happy with the number of students, faculty, and staff who have been adhering to our mandatory vaccination policy, and we continue to encourage everyone to get vaccinated, submit their daily COVID screenings, and get their Vaccine Passport. Since the start of the semester, we have introduced several options for people to do their daily screening and get their Vaccine Passport, including using the Lakehead University Mobile Safety app, using any web browser, and checking in with our Security Services team and carrying a printout of their vaccination record.”
Confederation College announced their vaccine policy around the same time as LU. They gave slightly more time for students and staff to get their shots.
President Kathleen Lynch says much like Lakehead, they have ensured the process of providing proof of vaccination is simple, and has not caused any issues at the doors of their campus.
“Right up until the eleventh hour, we are working with an app provider that has already worked with us on our screening questions, so we added the vaccination portion to the app that students and staff already had on their phones,” explains Lynch. “We launched that on the Monday of Labour Day, opened on the Tuesday, and we’ve had a uptake right off the get go, and it’s easy to use.”
Along with this Confederation College also had vaccine clinics set up on campus, including at their McIntrye building.
Lynch stated they do not have specific numbers in terms of how many students used these vaccine clinics, but says one clinic administered around 50 vaccines in a single day.
Lynch concludes by saying there is not a plan currently to have anymore clinics on campus, but this will depend on what is communicated to them by students.
“It’s such a small group of students that are not vaccinated, and vaccines are so accessible,” says Lynch. “You can go to a drug store, you can go to the CLE in Thunder Bay, and the region they have places you can get vaccinated that are very accessible. We don’t think it’s needed at this point, and if we hear differenly from students we can work with the health unit to offer one again, but things are going really really well.”
Both schools stressed when initially implementing the vaccine mandate, there was careful consideration with the health unit and various expert groups.
