COVID-19 is still spreading across the country as the flu season begins. With public health experts predicting that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to worsen as the colder months arrive, college and university leaders are examining the prudence and practicality of requiring students and employees to get flu vaccines. Of course, this conversation raises many legal issues. At the most basic level, what is the legal authority of public and private institutions to mandate vaccines? Drilling down further, there are nuances relative to students and employees and variations in state laws. In addition, those institutions that decide to require vaccines for some or all of the campus community must operationalize a way for individuals to request exemptions, any of which could be subject to review by the EEOC, OCR, or another regulating entity.

In this 30-minute, audio only briefing, you will hear from two NACUA members who advised their respective universities as they considered these very questions.

Presenters will address:

• The legal authority for public and private institutions to mandate flu or other immunizations during a global pandemic;

• The contours of personal, health-related, and religious exemptions; and

• other legal or practical considerations related to campus-wide vaccination efforts.