Michigan Students Protest Against Universities' COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

Students from Michigan have held a protest in front of the State Capitol Building against the COVID-19 vaccine requirement at universities, claiming that they should not be forced to vaccinate in order to attend classes.

“Our goal is to inspire and motivate students to defend their freedoms and stand up for their American rights. Universities across the state of Michigan are mandating the Covid-19 vaccine, and MSTC‘s goal is to reverse these mandates. We are against forced and coerced vaccination,” Michigan Students Take Charge, an organization led by student representatives from college campuses across Michigan, noted on its website.

Protest organizers said that they have gathered to fight for the medical freedom of students pursuing studies at Michigan State, University of Michigan, Grand Valley State University, and other Michigan’s higher education institutions, Erudera.com reports.

PJ Serati, a student at the Michigan State University (MSU), said that the reason behind the protest is not about COVID-19 vaccines but to oppose the idea of forcing people to vaccinate, adding that everyone should feel free to make their decision in this regard.

91 percent of students, staff, and faculty at Michigan State University (MSU) have received COVID-19 vaccines. Students, faculty, and staff are required to vaccinate with an FDA-approved vaccine or authorized by World Health Organization (WHO)

At the same time, the university has received more than 4,000 requests for vaccine exemptions, of which more than 3,000 were approved and over 200 were denied.

Other universities and colleges across Michigan also ask individuals to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to keep the community safe.

The protest was organized after the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services introduced the voluntary mask advisory for all indoor events.

As another COVID-19 wave is expected to hit in December before the year-end holidays, following the epidemiologists’ warnings, universities across the world require their students and other university members to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Yet, many students remain reluctant to vaccinate.

Back in October, a group of students at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, came together to protest against the university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. While announcing the mandate, the university highlighted that students and all employees will not be able to attend classes or other activities if they do not adhere to the mandate and get vaccinated by January 3, 2022.

Meanwhile, there were also institutions that disenrolled students who did not comply with the request for vaccination, including the University of Virginia, which disenrolled 238 students, and the University of New Mexico (UNM), which said that a total of 256 UNM students would be disenrolled.