More than 90% of Salisbury University students have received a COVID-19 vaccine, as previously reported by The Flyer.
This percentage is higher than Maryland’s September 2021 vaccination rate with 82% of residents having received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, SU is falling behind other universities.
98% of University of Maryland’s campus population has been vaccinated, according to the school’s COVID-19 Dashboard webpage. The school is currently listed among the top 10 most vaccinated colleges in the United States, according to The Diamondback.
With a sizeable percentage of SU students already vaccinated, why should unvaccinated students reconsider their decision?
COVID-19’s academic symptoms are beginning to congest college students’ learning experiences.
Vaccination should be an informed choice made by every SU community member as it affects the student body as a whole.
Junior Owen Baker received the vaccine after he saw the devastating effects of the disease in his physical geography class.
Baker’s professor caught COVID and “had to go back online for a week.” He ended up canceling “two classes and a lab [session].”
Even with remote learning, “evidence is emerging to show that school closures have resulted in actual learning losses” seen in data from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, according to The World Bank.
However, the effects of the disease on a student’s life beyond sickness should be considered. Vaccines are still largely effective against COVID-19 despite slight drops in efficacy after five months.
Moderna, Pfizer and Janssen vaccine efficacy levels were at 93%, 88% and 71%, according to a Sept.17 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More students should be vaccinated so SU can avoid health-damaging symptoms and the disease’s devastating impact on higher education.
By JACOB BEAVER
Editorial editor
Featured photo courtesy of Salisbury University Public Relations