This post was originally written by WJBR Digital Production Intern, Joy Paganucci. Paganucci is a senior Media Communications Honors student at the University of Delaware from New York, NY. Along with being a Digital Content Intern for WJBR, Paganucci also works as Executive Producer for Real Talk, a show on the UD Student Television Network and as an Oral Communications Consultant in the UD Writing Center.
An uproar of reactions flooded the University of Delaware campus as well as the @udelaware Instagram on May 5th when it was announced that returning UD Students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Returning students must get there vaccine no later than August 15th. With the fall semester slowly approaching, students are left unsure about how strictly the protocols will be followed. The Instagram post below was left with over 2,500 comments.
One user commented, “If you’re offended by this just don’t come back to campus, let the vaccinated people live.” Another user that replied to the post said, “Not cool. We should have a choice. [It’s my] body.”
Many students were upset since they will have many online classes rather in person. Jordan Franks, a senior political science major, is excited about the return to campus as someone who is vaccinated. “I hope people follow the protocol and that UD takes extra measures to ensure everyone is instead of just an honor policy,” said Franks. “But it’s super discouraging seeing people I know and nursing majors in the comments section talking about how stupid COVID is and how they don’t want to get vaccinated.”
Satvika Kadiyala, a senior biology major, won’t feel safe with an in person class until she knows everyone is vaccinated. “A lot of people tried to use “my body my choice” as an excuse to not get the vaccine but that same principle cannot be applied to a pandemic where your illness can infect someone else” said Kadiyala. Kadiyala stresses the virus being downplayed due to misinformation and people not experiencing the tragic reality of the virus firsthand. “In reality, over 600k Americans have died,” Kadiyala said. “This virus is not like many others. It has already mutated so many times and new strains have been found. The only thing we can do right now is trust science to build herd immunity and hope for new vaccines that can help protect us against the new strains.”
The University of Delaware sent out a health update email on June 24th. Read more about the details here. Students are left to wait to see how these new protocols will play out in the next few months…