-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [FAUW] Open letter to the University about mandatory vaccination for on-campus activity Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2021 15:22:34 +0000 From: Laura McDonald To: Hello FAUW members, The Faculty Association Board has published the following open letter on the FAUW website. There is a link at the bottom of the letter to a form where you can add your name or sign anonymously, if you want. Laura McDonald Communications Officer Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo Pronouns: she/her/hers https://fauw.blog | @fauwaterloo Faculty members at the University of Waterloo are excited to welcome students from across Canada and around the world to our campus in September so that we can resume in-person teaching. We owe it to our students, ourselves, and our community to do this safely. The Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW) is pleased to see that the Council of Ontario Universities and Colleges Ontario have called on the Ontario government “to provide a province-wide policy that would require the vaccination of postsecondary students, staff and faculty.” The FAUW Board of Directors calls on the University to show leadership by announcing now that it will require all students, staff, and faculty engaging in on-campus activity this fall to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, regardless of the provincial government’s response. We support appropriate exceptions and accommodations as per the Ontario Human Rights Code and frequent testing as an alternative for faculty, staff, and students who are not fully vaccinated. While other safety measures such as distancing and masking are important and should continue, vaccination is currently the most effective tool at reducing symptomatic infection, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19. The reality is that only about 60% of the Ontario population is fully vaccinated as of now, and this rate is even lower in the 18-29 age group. Waterloo Region was hit particularly hard and early by the Delta variant, which is substantially more transmissible than other variants of the virus. The greater the proportion of the population that is not vaccinated, the easier will be the spread and evolution of the virus, leading to the emergence of variants with even greater ability to cause breakthrough infections. Unless vaccination is required for on-campus activity, outbreaks are more likely, including those with the potential to close UW to in-person activities. The health of students, staff, and faculty—and their families, friends, and other contacts off campus—will be needlessly put at risk. Other faculty associations (e.g. UWOFA at Western) have called for mandatory vaccination, Seneca College has officially adopted a vaccination requirement for on-campus activities, and Conestoga College is considering one. Hundreds of universities in the United States have mandated vaccination. We also call on the Ontario government to legislate in this area for the safety of all Ontarians. Sign the letter To show your support for a safe return to campus, you can sign this letter and we will share your concerns with the University administration. To sign as an organization, please email fauw@uwaterloo.ca.