Re: End UW's "Vaccination Requirement" and begin healing our community From: President University of Waterloo Date: 4/1/22, 08:31 To: John Turri CC: Cindy Forbes , Paul Fieguth , Stan Woo , En-Hui Yang , Achim Kempf , Anne Bordeleau , Chao Tan , Siv Sivaloganathan , Martin Karsten , Bill Power , Moira Glerum , David Ha , Natalie Hutchings , Zoran Miskovic , Neil Randall , Siva Sivoththaman , George Freeman , Christiane Lemieux , Paul Ward , Clarence Woudsma , Nasser Mohieddin Abukhdeir , Trevor Charles , Joan Coutu , Kristine Dalton , Xianguo Li , Vice Pres Academic Provost , Karen Jack , Charmaine Dean , Sandra Banks , Dennis Huber , Jeff Casello , David DeVidi , Ian Rowlands , Jean Becker , Jennifer Kieffer , Matthew Erickson , Marilyn Thompson , Chris Read , Bruce Campbell , Allan Starr , Norah McRae , Catherine Newell Kelly , Lili Liu , Sheila Ager , Mary Wells , Jean Andrey , Mark Giesbrecht , Bob Lemieux , Lori Curtis , Dave McDougall , Jasmin Habib , Roydon Fraser , Jean-Paul Lam , Faculty Association President , Kate Lawson , Joel Dubin , Heidi Engelhardt , Peter Johnson , Nomair Naeem , Kristina Llewellyn , Paul Ward Dear John,  I have reviewed your latest email on the subject on the University’s vaccination requirement. I respectfully disagree with the perspective you are sharing.  Messaging to the public from health authorities throughout the pandemic has been consistent: vaccination offers the best protection against the worst effects of COVID-19 and its variants and is the most important way to protect public health. Personal opinions regarding vaccination cannot override or displace the balance of scientific evidence and advice from public health authorities in support of vaccination.  The University has obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and University policies, such as Policy 34 (“Health, Safety and Environment) and Policy 11 (“University Risk Management”), which include taking every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of employees, students, and visitors. The University is committed to the prevention of illness and injury and strives to provide a safe work and study environment for its employees, students, and visitors.  Acting on advice from public health experts, instructions from government as well as legislation, and rooted in various relevant University policies, the University of Waterloo required all students and employees to provide proof of being vaccinated against COVID-19. This proof of vaccination requirement remains in place as part of the overall health and safety requirements of the University and in recognition of the continuing role of vaccination as a key defence in the ongoing management of COVID-19. I invite you to review the information on the COVID-19 website covering our proof of vaccination requirement.  Working with other Universities in our region, the Ontario Science Table and public health officials, we are suspending the suspending mask and proof of vaccination requirements for entry to campus, effective May 1. As the Provost and I explained in our recent memo to the campus, and as has been the case throughout the pandemic, the evolution of the virus and the course of disease activity are difficult to predict, so this decision is contingent on current public health conditions and directions continuing.  On the issue of discipline: all employees permitted to work remotely during the Fall Term were advised that they would need to be fully vaccinated, or provide proof of having received an accommodation for an exemption to the vaccination requirement for medical reasons or other grounds protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code, by the start of the Winter Term. The consequences of non-compliance were clearly defined and we are applying those consequences consistently, in accordance with appropriate Waterloo agreements, policies and guidelines.  I want to emphasize that compliance and disciplinary measures are linked to the period of time when the policy was in effect. The suspension of our proof of vaccination requirement from May 1 onwards will not affect individuals who were not compliant in the period in which the policy was active.  I recognize that this response may be unsatisfactory to you and that you may continue to oppose the actions we have taken and will continue to take. There are established mechanisms for dispute resolution through section 9 of the Memorandum of Agreement between the University and the Faculty Association for grievance and arbitration for you raise your issues.  Please note that the University will not reply to you further on this matter outside of the MOA processes.  Vivek Goel   From: John Turri Date: Monday, March 28, 2022 at 11:18 AM To: President University of Waterloo Cc: Cindy Forbes , Paul Fieguth , Stanley Woo , En-Hui Yang , Achim Kempf , Anne Bordeleau , Chao Tan , Siv Sivaloganathan , Martin Karsten , Bill Power , Moira Glerum , David Ha , Natalie Hutchings , Zoran Miskovic , Neil Randall , Siva Sivoththaman , George Freeman , Christiane Lemieux , Paul Ward , Clarence Woudsma , Nasser Mohieddin Abukhdeir , Trevor Charles , Joan Coutu , Kristine Dalton , Xianguo Li , "provost@uwaterloo.ca" , Karen Jack , Charmaine Dean , Sandra Banks , Dennis Huber , Jeff Casello , David DeVidi , Ian Rowlands , Jean Becker , Jennifer Kieffer , Matthew Erickson , Marilyn Thompson , Chris Read , Bruce Campbell , Allan Starr , Norah McRae , Cathy Newell Kelly , Lili Liu , Sheila Ager , Mary Wells , Jean Andrey , Mark Giesbrecht , Robert Lemieux , Lori Curtis , Dave McDougall , Jasmin Habib , Roydon Fraser , Jean-Paul Lam , Faculty Association President , Kate Lawson , Joel Dubin , Heidi Engelhardt , Peter Johnson , Nomair Naeem , Kristina Llewellyn Subject: End UW's "Vaccination Requirement" and begin healing our community   Dear President Goel, The case for ending — not merely temporarily suspending — UW’s “Vaccination Requirement” is now decisive. We implore you to acknowledge this and provide the leadership we need to begin healing our community. This is a matter of legitimate and urgent interest for all community members, especially those with relevant oversight and administrative roles. By maintaining a vaccination requirement, UW is defying public health authorities. When UW announced the requirement at the end of summer 2021, it cited instructions from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Kieran Moore. On 17 February 2022, Moore announced that vaccination policies at Ontario universities were “no longer necessary” and “should” be removed by March 1. On 1 March 2022, Moore officially removed the instructions that UW relied upon last summer to justify its vaccination requirement. By maintaining a vaccination requirement, UW is breaking its promise to the community. UW publicly committed that people’s information collected for the policy “will be destroyed when mandatory vaccines are no longer determined to be necessary for public health purposes.” As noted above, UW has been repeatedly informed by public health authorities that vaccination policies are “no longer necessary.” In addition to the potential legal implications of retaining and using personal information beyond the purpose for which it was obtained or compiled, it is unethical and a breach of trust. Why would UW defy public health authorities and break its commitment by continuing its vaccination requirement? Surprisingly, the rationale is to “minimize uncertainty and disruption” on campus. Students are being expelled and employees terminated to reduce inconvenience. This is unnecessary and unconscionable, especially since universities are now known to be very low-risk settings. Major Canadian universities have fared perfectly well despite ending their vaccination requirements, or never adopting one in the first place. The University of Alberta and University of Calgary ended their requirements weeks ago and by all appearances are operating normally. The University of British Columbia refused to implement a vaccination requirement and continued functioning as well as other universities with such requirements: There are no vaccines in Canada that are mandatory. It has been recommended that post-secondary institutions do not introduce prevention measures that are different from those recommended by the Provincial Health Officer. In addition, there are equity, privacy, human rights, employment law and operational practicality considerations that inform the university’s decisions regarding vaccines…. [I]n light of these considerations, UBC is not making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for students, faculty or staff, nor will UBC ask members of the campus community to openly disclose their vaccination status. In addition to being unnecessary, UW’s requirement has been ineffective. UW’s own published data prove that the requirement failed to achieve its stated objective to “reduce the spread of COVID-19” on campus. Over eight months of historical data, the requirement was associated with only 1 fewer positive COVID-19 test on campus every two months, a number not meaningfully different from zero. This matches the conclusion of the Chief Medical Health Officer of Vancouver Coastal Health, who recently concluded, There is now no material difference in likelihood that a … student or staff member who is vaccinated or unvaccinated may be infected and potentially infectious to others. Similarly, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Theresa Tam, recently signaled a federal shift "from requirements to recommendations," because protection provided by full vaccination is "really low." Ontario society is reopening, other Canadian universities are faring well without vaccination policies, and the emergency has ended; it’s time to live like it. It is past time to end — not merely temporarily suspend — UW’s vaccination policy. Now, as before, we have a choice. Let us choose to move on and begin healing. In order for that healing to truly begin, UW must make amends to those community members whom it has wronged by imposing its now discredited “Vaccination Requirement.” This must include ending all ongoing discipline against staff and faculty and rehiring all employees who have been terminated for alleged non-compliance with the requirement. Sincerely yours, John Turri, Philosophy Department & Cognitive Science Program, UW Edward R. Vrscay, Department of Applied Mathematics, UW Daniel Smilek, Department of Psychology, UW Redacted Redacted Richard Mann, School of Computer Science, UW Xiaosong Wang, Department of Chemistry, UW Redacted Samuel W.K. Wong, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, UW Paula Petrie, Faculty of Engineering, UW Rand Boehm, IST, UW Mu Zhu, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, UW Paul Pasternak, Coop Department, UW Fiona Yiu, Engineering Undergraduate Office, UW Wayne Oldford, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, UW Joe Pharaon, Department of Applied Mathematics, UW