Some faculty are concerned that Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is weighing in on UBC’s academic policies, following a letter from the health authority recommending against UBC’s deregistration policy for those who did not comply by COVID-19 rules.
On February 16, 2022, VCH correspondence argued that the mandatory rapid tests for unvaccinated students and staff are “not useful in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 on campus.” But the part that concerned faculty members was when VCH “strongly [advised]” against the deregistration of students who hadn't declared their vaccination status or were unvaccinated.
The letter cited an evidence review and analysis on the Social Science Research Network online repository, which was a research collaboration between “public health and infectious disease experts from around the world.” The paper outlines the unintended socio political consequences of strict COVID-19 mandates on the future of public health measures.
The preprint said that COVID-19 policies similar to UBC’s “may lead to detrimental long-term impacts” on future public health measures, and that imposing restrictions on people’s works, lives, education and social life based on COVID vaccination status are an infringement on “human rights, promotes stigma and social polarization, and adversely affects health and well-being.”
Faculty Association President Dr. Alan Richardson said there are two main issues with the letter.
“One about whether we can make sense of the Vancouver Coastal Health’s review of public health and the other is the inappropriateness of sending this sort of letter arguing against Senate policies in the first place,” Richardson said.
He said that one striking aspect of the letter was the lack of consideration for the university’s priorities, which is the continuance of academic teaching and learning with as “few disruptions as possible.”
“The trouble with leniency is [that]... we have reasonable belief that every time we've loosened restrictions or protections, it led to a rise in cases — even if they don't end up in the hospital,” he said. “Rising cases is bad news for UBCs academic mission because it still means absences from the classroom by students and by instructors.”
Since the beginning of March, these COVID-19 policies — the rapid testing program and the deregistration of students — were deemed “no longer necessary,” according to an email statement from UBC Senior Media Strategist Thandi Fletcher. Additionally, the rapid testing program “was not intended to be permanent” and was implemented as a “measure designed to provide an additional layer of protection for our community.”
However, the decision to discontinue the rapid-testing program lacked consultation with UBC senators, who were key players in passing the rapid-testing program and the deregistration of undeclared and unvaccinated students. Fletcher did not comment on VCH’s comment on Senate policy.
VCH declined to comment.