Suzanne Johnson Addresses Campus Vaccine Requirements

Green River College (GRC) will take a “wait and see” attitude on whether students, faculty and staff need to be vaccinated for the coronavirus before returning to campus.

“This is an evolving situation and it might change as the months move forward,” said Suzanne Johnson, president of GRC. “We are monitoring the state’s and governor’s plans regarding this.”

Johnson said as a public college, GRC is limited in its abilities to decide independently about requiring a particular vaccine. “Even vaccines that are required by the state still have exceptions which people can request to not be vaccinated,” she added.

The issue is not unique to GRC. “This is the same position that all of our community and technical colleges are at,” said Johnson. “Too early to know and we’ll need further guidance about this at the state level.”

  Students have differing opinions on the issue.

“I think it should be the person’s choice,” says Caleb Krauter, a Green River student, who compared COVID 19 to the flu.

“Just like the flu vaccine isn’t mandatory, the COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t be, either.”

Kailey Henry, another Green River student, offers a different perspective. 

“I personally think that the vaccine is going to be the most effective method to keep COVID numbers down.” 

Henry thinks requiring vaccines would be best because “You can’t always rely on students to be consistent with other methods, like wearing masks, washing hands frequently, social distancing, etc.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, college students will be among the last to receive the vaccine. As of now, King County is in Phase 2, which allows “for additional indoor activities, including indoor dining at 25 percent capacity,” according to kingcounty.gov.  This could mean that it will be quite some time before colleges are able to open their doors.