Regardless of risk to public and students from unvaccinated persons, Governor Ducey cracks down on higher education institutes trying to stay safe; Yavapai escapes Governor’s wrath by only encouraging distancing and mask wearing among the unvaccinated
Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey, whose business experience was in ice cream management, but who has become the State’s health czar, issued an executive order on Tuesday, June 14 to prevent Arizona State University and other public higher education institutions from implementing requirements for unvaccinated students on campus this fall.
According to press reports, ASU officials were not requiring college students to get vaccinated to return to its campuses, however, they said they “expected” them to do so before classes resume Aug. 19. This statement seemed to rile the Governor, or at least that is the impression one gets from the news reports. (Some suspect this order is a part of an as yet unannounced campaign for higher office, which Ducey denies.)
Once learning of ASU’s plan, the Governor almost immediately issued an executive order quashing it.
Ducey’s executive order prohibits all public universities and community colleges in Arizona from requiring a COVID-19 vaccination or information from students about their vaccination status prior to their arrival on campus. It also blocks requirements for mask usage and distancing for the unvaccinated.
The order declares that institutions like Yavapai Community College cannot “place any conditions on attendance or participation in classes or academic activities, including but not limited to mandatory testing and mandatory mask usage, if a person chooses not to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine or disclose that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, unless such requirement has been mandated by law in the State of Arizona.”
The executive order from Ducey provides exemptions for the institutions for students participating in medical or clinical training. Nursing students, for example, can still be required by supervisors to wear masks when treating Covid-19 patients.
The order does not prevent institutions from encouraging students to get vaccinated so they don’t become ill and possibly perish. It also does not prevent institutions from providing testing or asking for voluntary mask usage, consistent with CDC guidance.
A public university will be permitted to require testing due to a significant COVID-19 outbreak in a shared student housing setting, but must receive approval from the Arizona Department of Health Services before doing so.
Below is the gist of the announcement from Yavapai Community College about distancing and mask wearing that was put in place June 1.
