A New Jersey student has said he is barred from taking online classes at Rutgers University because he hasn’t received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Hollar said that he was locked out of his Rutgers email and other accounts due to his vaccination status. When Hollar tried to pay his tuition last month, he was told by a representative that he needed to get vaccinated even though he doesn’t plan to attend classes in person.
“I’ll probably have to transfer to a different university,” Hollar the paper, adding that he knows of at least one other student who is in the same position. “I find it concerning for the vaccine to be pushed by the university rather than my doctor,” he told the outlet.
“I’m not in an at-risk age group. I’m healthy and I work out. I don’t find COVID to be scary,” he added, likely referring to the numerous studies that show the COVID-19 death rate among young adults in his age group to be far less than 1 percent. “If someone wants to be vaccinated, that’s fine with me, but I don’t think they should be pushed.”
Rutgers was the first college in the United States to mandate vaccines for students at its campuses, although it did not require the shots for students in online degree programs or online-only programs.
But Hollar said that he’s not part of the online-only programs.
“When they put out the guidance in March, I was reading through all the verbiage, which was if you plan to return to campus, you need to be vaccinated,” he told the outlet. “I figured I wouldn’t be part of that because all my classes were remote.”
Keith Williams, his stepfather, told the paper that he is vaccinated but is “dumbfounded” by Rutgers’ move.
“I believe in vaccines, but I am highly confident that COVID-19 and variants do not travel through computer monitors by taking online classes,” Williams said.
“He chose to remove himself from an on-campus experience so he would not need to be vaccinated,” Williams said. “Now to be removed and shut down from his Rutgers email and online classes during the start of his senior year seems a bit crazy.”
The Epoch Times has contacted Rutgers for comment.
In March this year, Rutgers said that all students will have to get a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to campus in the fall.
“We are committed to health and safety for all members of our community, and adding COVID-19 vaccination to our student immunization requirements will help provide a safer and more robust college experience for our students,” said Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway at the time.
A spokesperson for Rutgers, in response to Hollar’s comments, told news outlets the college’s policy hasn’t changed since March, when it was announced.
“Since March, we have provided comprehensive information and direction to students to meet vaccine requirements through several communications channels, including our university websites, direct emails, and messages relayed throughout the registration and enrollment processes,” spokeswoman Dory Devlin said.
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