UChicago drops booster mandate after saga of COVID regulations, protests
On July 26, the University of Chicago announced it would no longer require booster shots for COVID-19.
The updated vaccination policy comes in the wake of a number of COVID-related controversies that Campus Reform has previously covered.
On July 26, the University of Chicago’s Office of the Provost posted an announcement stating that “[a]dditional COVID-19 vaccine doses (e.g., booster shots) beyond the initial two vaccine doses will not be a University requirement.”
Although the mandate is no longer required, the university is still recommending the booster to students and faculty members.
The updated vaccination policy comes in the wake of a number of COVID-related controversies that Campus Reform has previously reported on.
In December of 2021, the University of Chicago announced its first booster mandate, a decision that upset many students.
In January, by contrast, Campus Reform reported on a student protest in response to the University of Chicago’s decision to return to in-person classes.
[RELATED: Did student journalism get a university COVID policy reversed? Read the coverage.]
At the protest, students were seen holding signs that read “We want safer schools!” and “CPS listen to us.”
Campus Reform spoke with two UChicago students who think the school’s new booster policy change does not go far enough.
Mitchell Robson, UChicago student and writer for The Chicago Thinker, the university’s conservative news outlet, spoke with Campus Reform about the recent development.
“I am very excited that the booster shot mandate at UChicago has been lifted—especially given the major role the Thinker played in revealing the idiocy behind the booster mandate—but I recognize that there remains much to be desired and changed,” Robson told Campus Reform.
Robson was also vocal on Twitter following the booster shot mandate’s removal.
In a July 26 tweet, Robson questions when the school will apologize “to the countless students they already forced to get it.”
Arthur Long, the other UChicago student and writer for The Chicago Thinker, called out his school’s administration for “[clinging] to an illogical strategy of indoctrination and coercion.”
“Although the rescission of UChicago’s vaccine and booster mandate is welcome news, it does not go far enough and does not include an apology to those irreparably harmed by the University’s authoritarian decrees,” Long told Campus Reform.
Long also told Campus Reform that he plans on holding the University of Chicago accountable for its past policies. He also plans on challenging the current testing policy.
Campus Reform reached out to the University of Chicago and the Office of the Provost for comment, but did not receive a response.
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