U.S. District Judge Damon Leichty's ruling that Indiana University can require students to submit proof they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus was a blow to anti-vaccine activists and a welcome sign for the hundred of other public and private colleges and universities with similar vaccine requirements. The California State University and University of Connecticut systems are awaiting federal rulings from similar lawsuits.
Federal courts have consistently upheld vaccination requirements at K-12 schools and in workplaces, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing Arizona State University public health professor James Hodge, but this case is among the first to tackle COVID-19 vaccine mandates at public universities.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Students were also given the option to remain off-campus if they declined to get vaccinated, Leichty noted, and most of the plaintiffs were granted exemptions from the vaccine requirement, allowing them to attend in-person if they wore a mask indoors and got tested regularly — requirements the student plaintiffs rejected. He also looked at the safety data for the vaccines, still under emergency authorization approval, and found little serious risk. "No one should blithely dismiss the call for further investigation, but the students' case isn't strong today," Leichty wrote.
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
The new Stratus Covid strain – and why it’s on the riseThe Explainer ‘No evidence’ new variant is more dangerous or that vaccines won’t work against it, say UK health experts
-
Why are autism rates increasing?The Explainer Medical experts condemn Trump administration’s claim that paracetamol during pregnancy is linked to rising rates of neurodevelopmental disorder in US and UK
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Cytomegalovirus can cause permanent birth defectsThe Explainer The virus can show no symptoms in adults
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
