Trinity neuroscientist says students should be required to be vaccinated

It would be “perfectly reasonable” for universities to introduce coronavirus vaccine protocols if a return to campus in the autumn is to go ahead, a prominent zero-Covid advocate has said.

After more than a year of remote learning for thousands of students across universities and colleges in the State, many are hoping for a full return to campus, including large lectures and society activities.

Third-level colleges have said they are committed to “maximising” the on-campus experience for students and are now advanced in planning a return to campus next month.

While students have been urged to receive the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the return to college, it is not mandatory.

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Dr Tomás Ryan, a neuroscientist at Trinity and member of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group, said it was “completely not radical” to require that students be vaccinated as it was already required that young school children be vaccinated against certain diseases before going to school.

Universities and workplaces abroad were making vaccines mandatory for students and workers, he said.

“I don’t see how any university can expect to return to campus as normal. It’s not going to be like that. This will be a gradual process,” Dr Ryan said.

“We are going to have to see how the pandemic develops, but I think it’s perfectly reasonable to have mandatory vaccination for students wishing to participate in campus activities. It makes perfect sense.”

While mandatory vaccinations would “not be sufficient” because vaccines alone do not prevent transmission entirely, it would be a good step combined with antigen testing and other protocols, he said.

Universities would have to accommodate people who were unable to receive the vaccine for medical reasons but overall it was a good approach to take, Dr Ryan said.

Walk-in centres

Ruairí Power, president of University College Dublin’s Students’ Union, said the university had asked the UCDSU to promote the newly opened walk-in vaccination centre on the campus.

“We were happy to do so because we see it as an opportunity for a more full reopening of campus and to prevent outbreaks,” he said.

“There is a very good uptake so far and we’re cautiously optimistic that it will be a major factor in driving down outbreaks and allowing [the] campus to reopen as much as possible,” he said.

Currently, there was “no indication” from the university that vaccines would be mandatory to return to campus-based learning.

“We hope as many students as possible get the vaccine but it would create massive logistical issues if it was mandatory so I hope that won’t be the case,” he said.