When COVID-19 vaccines became available to all last year, the California State University was quick to announce a vaccine requirement for all returning students. Nearly a year later, Sonoma State’s student population is over 91% fully vaccinated, while staff is over 85%. For each group, there are about 3% who have filed for vaccine exemptions, and SSU is now honoring said exemptions, but not without consequence.

On August 4, Sonoma State Residential Education and Campus Housing (REACH) sent out an email regarding the vaccination policy for students living and working on campus. The policy is as follows: “The California State University system requires that all students, faculty, and staff who wish to access campus facilities this fall term, be vaccinated against COVID-19.”

The email goes on to cover what students should do if they feel the need for a religious exemption or have a deep-seated belief against the vaccine. This all boiled down to students having to show a weekly negative test if the exemption is approved. 

An email sent out to SSU employees on Nov. 30 reads: “Beginning December 6, 2021, Sonoma State University employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 [due to a religious exemption] will be required to complete weekly testing.”

This does mean that exempt employees are just now beginning to participate in testing that has been required for exempt students since the beginning of the semester.

Some professors on campus have been receiving weekly tests, which have helped improve the system that the University put in place, but not every unvaccinated professor has been registering for weekly testing. That all changes now with the new guidelines Sonoma State released. The staff email states: “Appropriate administrators or their designee will submit a weekly report via Qualtrics to both University Personnel and Risk Management and Safety Services to certify their employees’ compliance with the program requirements.” This new guideline will hopefully lead to a more open line of communication between the students and staff on what exactly goes on behind the scenes.

When informed about this new revelation, one student, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “As students we are assuming that our professors are taking the same precautions and care that students are. Follow the rules that you set out for us instead of keeping us in the dark and acting like you can’t tell the student population anything.” 

Some of the student body have brought up their concerns with Sonoma’s lack of communication by bringing up the fires that happened back in 2019 where the school waited until a few hours before initiating an evacuation plan to inform its student body was going on. In that instance, if a student didn’t have an easy way to get home, Sonoma State was automatically moving everyone to an off-site campground to be hosted until the students in question had a ride home. While that was a more extreme case, the University has had multiple cases where the student body has been kept in the dark until the last second. Much like this case now, where the official CSU website states that “Campuses shall disseminate information about this [vaccine] policy, including Exemptions, using methods designed to reach diverse audiences (including individuals who may not have internet access). Such information shall provide appropriate point(s) of contact for this policy, including email and telephone numbers.” 

Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communications and Initiatives Julia Gonzales shed some light on the subject, saying, “Employees who have an approved religious/deeply held belief or medical exemption will be tested once per 7-day period and report the confirmation of the test to their appropriate administrator or designee.” 

To stay up to date on COVID-19 protocols and regulations, visit covid19.sonoma.edu.