Columbia was once a respected institution — once
/Allah Pundit at Hot Air:
“People who warn about a “forever pandemic” usually strike me as alarmist. Yeah, scientists like Fauci are overly cautious but even Fauci has a benchmark for relaxing pandemic restrictions of 10,000 cases per day or fewer nationally. (Whether that benchmark is attainable is another matter.) No one’s arguing for keeping masks and social distancing in place after we reach herd immunity. And certainly no one would be arguing for keeping them in place if the vaccine were mandatory for all Americans.
Why, it’d be insane to insist on restrictions in a population where everyone was immunized.
But what if I told you that there *are* populations, albeit small ones, where those are the rules?
Columbia University will require students and staffers to get COVID-19 vaccinations to return to school in the fall.
“On the strong recommendation of our public health colleagues, who have advised us so ably throughout this process, President Bollinger and the Columbia University COVID Task Force have decided to make the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all students who are present on campus, starting this fall,” read an email to students and staff…
Students will still be required to observe social distancing and face covering requirements after receiving the vaccine.
…. As of today, wearing a face covering over the nose and mouth is required at all times while on university property. Building capacity is set at 50 percent to facilitate social distancing and “[s]ocial/physical distancing guidance requires, when feasible, maintaining 6 feet of separation in combination with proper use of face coverings.”
In other words, the standard pandemic precautions we’ve all been told to practice for the past 13 months remain in effect alongside mandatory immunizations. Why?
…Out of 84 million vaccinated people, just .007 percent or so have had confirmed cases of COVID. The total undergraduate and graduate population of Columbia in 2020 was 31,455. If the rate calculated by the CDC were to hold true for Columbia’s student body, we’d expect a grand total of two infections once everyone has been vaccinated. And given that students are typically young adults, odds would be very high that those infections would be nonthreatening.
…. My guess is that it’s not really about protecting the vulnerable at all but about tribal signaling. People who Believe In Science take maximum precautions at all times, even when their risk of infection has been reduced as close to zero as it could plausibly get. We’ll see if Columbia lightens up before September arrives. I’m not optimistic.”