Will more universities ban unvaccinated students?

A UK university has become the first in the country to ban students from living on campus if they cannot prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Hartpury University has warned it will be a “mandatory requirement” for students living in halls of residence to show they have had at least one jab, reported The Telegraph. Additionally, sixth-form students who have not been vaccinated have been banned from living at Hartpury College, part of the same estate near Gloucester.

Vice-principal Claire Whitworth wrote to the teenage students and their parents informing them of the ruling. Hartpury’s decision has revived the debate about vaccine passports and raised the prospect of some people being denied access to higher education.

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Whitworth wrote: “The vaccine protects you, protects others, and will allow us all to lead a ‘new normal’ life, including the best possible Hartpury experience.”

However, a parent told The Telegraph that her daughter’s “dreams were in tatters”. The college’s stance is “completely inappropriate” and “causing a huge amount of distress to my daughter and the whole family”, the unnamed mother said.

Although the Department for Education said last month that there were “no plans” for proof of vaccine status to be required on a national basis to attend lectures or stay in halls of residence, there is speculation that other establishments may follow Hartpury’s lead.

Ulster University is asking all of its students and staff whether or not they have received a Covid vaccine, the BBC reported. In an anonymous survey, the university is also asking them if they have not been vaccinated to outline the reasons why.

There is also the possibility that a national ruling could yet be made. Last month, a senior government source told Sky News that ministers “aren’t ruling out” requiring university students to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus to attend lectures and stay in halls this coming academic year.

Boris Johnson has been said to be “pushing” the idea of vaccine passports for universities. However, there is already opposition to such a move. Conservative MP Robert Halfon, chair of the Education Select Committee, described the proposition as “wrong-headed”.

He told The Times that “it’s like something out of Huxley’s Brave New World where people with vaccine passports will be engineered into social hierarchies – i.e. those who will be given a higher education and those who do not”.

The Liberal Democrats have also spoken out. Health spokesperson Munira Wilson said vaccine passports for universities would be “crossing a line”.

With 70% of people aged 18 to 29 in England having received a first dose of vaccine up to 11 August, the government is keen to encourage more from this age group to come forward for a jab. Ministers may see vaccine passports for higher education, or even the threat of them, as a way of doing this.

In the US, several universities have made it mandatory for students to be vaccinated in order to attend lectures.

Underlining how seriously the issue is being taken, students at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut were threatened this week with the loss of their Wi-Fi connection if they failed to prove their vaccine status.

The establishment also said students will be fined weekly for failing to provide their vaccine documentation, up to a maximum of $2,275 (£1,670) for the term, according to CNN.

Earlier this week, the University of Connecticut won a lawsuit brought by two students and the mother of a third, challenging its mandate that students must be vaccinated. This came shortly after US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett backed Indiana University's vaccine mandate, reported Reuters.