OPINIONS

Interim editor: Daesha Gear viewpoints.opinions@gmail.com OPINIONS February 10, 2022 5

DANIEL HERNANDEZ | VIEWPOINTS Riverside City College nurses administer the Pfzer vaccine to dozens on the top level of the RCC Parking Structure on April 22.

History is repeating itself on campus

Riverside Community College District proposes late vaccine mandate

DAESHA GEAR INTERIM OPINIONS EDITOR

The new booster mandate passed by the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees is giving me déjà vu of fall 2021, and it’s unnerving.

Similar to the last-minute COVID-19 vaccine order in the fall 2021 semester, which called for both doses from Moderna or Pfizer or the single vaccination from Johnson & Johnson, this new mandate from the district inconveniences students, staff and faculty.

The district’s lack of transparency and professionalism to enforce the last-minute implementation is beyond comparison to the Cal States and UC’s, which established their booster requirement for students in December. RCCD informed its students and faculty members through an email on Jan. 19 to have the booster shot less than two weeks from the proposed Feb. 1 deadline.

Although I am not here to compare and contrast RCCD to a CSU or UC, the delivery of enforcing a serious order in such a rushed manner is unsatisfactory. These matters should be carefully considered due to their impact on faculty members, staff and, most importantly, students.

RCCD encourages students who haven’t received any vaccinations to “do it now.” However, despite recently receiving both shots, students cannot return to campus because their bodies need to build immunity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults will be eligible to get the booster after fve months for Moderna and Pfzer and two months for Johnson & Johnson. This presents a challenge for students who planned to return to their respective colleges the Spring semester, as many who received their second dose in September and October will barely be eligible for a booster by February and March.

Everyone eligible to come back is given an either/or option: either receive the booster vaccine and upload proof to CLEARED4 before Feb. 1 or undergo weekly testing to monitor COVID-19 symptoms to access essential locations around the campus until eligible.

The district’s plan to host weekly vaccination sites reminds me of the notorious black tents and wrist bands that monitored who was safe to return to campus in the fall semester.

RCCD’s strategies to check COVID symptoms and blue/green passes disappeared shortly after a single week despite initially being heavily enforced. With that in mind, it makes me question the district’s consistency with the rules they enforce.

RCCD expects its students and faculty to get a booster vaccine to attend in-person and hybrid courses this semester while repeatedly delivering requirements within short notice.

The district’s past inconsistencies regarding COVID-19 are becoming more noticeable and objectionable. It is uncertain how well this new order will play this upcoming semester. History is undoubtedly repeating itself regarding RCCD’s lack of consistency on the COVID mandates they implement to its students and faculty members.

District is pushing boundaries with students

JOHN MICHAEL GUERRERO INTERIM SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

The booster should be optional rather than enforced and made mandatory.

The RCCD Board of Trustees voted to pass a booster mandate for the 2022 spring term Jan. 18. All eligible faculty and students will now be required to receive a booster shot for either Moderna, Pfzer or Johnson & Johnson by Feb. 1 to be eligible for in-person and hybrid courses.

The district is overstepping its ethical boundaries by forcing many students to get the booster. Many students hold a similar belief.

Of the 34 students I surveyed on campus throughout the week, 13 students supported the mandate while fve students were hesitant and 14 students were against the enactment of the mandate by the Board.

Through interviews I conducted around Riverside City College, I found that 41% of students attending on-campus classes for the winter session said they are against the Booster Mandate.

For instance, several students have expressed they would rather not be forced to take the Pfzer or Moderna booster shots, not because they are opposed to vaccines or protecting others, but because they are concerned about personal freedoms, access to the proper medical resources and their own well-being.

“(The COVID vaccine) keeps us safe, but it’s also unfair for (RCCD) to force students to get (the booster shot), it should be a choice,” Liza Rodriguez, an undeclared major, said.

Many of the students who hold extreme or undecided thoughts about the booster mandate share similar sentiments to Rodriguez.

The requirement of the booster being a prerequisite to attend inperson classes is an extreme step in reopening the college campus after a whole year of lockdowns. While personal safety should be prioritized above all else, the COVID vaccine should be the only main requirement to participate in hybrid and fully on-campus classes, not the booster shot.

As a college student who attended the fall 2021 term with both doses of the vaccine, wearing a mask and practicing COVID safety guidelines, I was able to safely begin my college education. Although this does not completely protect from COVID and its variants, keep in mind that many who are taking the risk of continuing their education in a face-to-face format while fully vaccinated should be enough.

The only case in which RCCD should open the floor for the booster shot is if it was decided to completely open up all campuses to all students, faculty and staff.