'Students Should Not Be Forced': Lawmaker Opposes Shot Mandate

Riverhead NY

14 July, 2021

11:26 AM

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RIVERHEAD, NY — New York State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio, who lives in Riverhead and represents the 2nd District, is speaking out about a state plan requiring all students at New York State college and universities be vaccinated in order to enroll this fall. In May, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said state and city universities in New York will require students to get vaccinations in order to be able to attend classes in the fall. Private colleges and universities will also be urged to mandate vaccinations, Cuomo said. However, no schools can mandate the vaccination until federal Food & Drug Administration approval is granted; the vaccinations are currently administered under an emergency use authorization, he said. Giglio is speaking out about the plan to require vaccinations for New York State college and university enrollment. "With what we now know about the virus and the necessity for vaccinating young people, students should not be forced to choose between getting the shots or attending college," Giglio said. "The vaccines are still considered experimental and we should not be forcing them on this extremely low-risk population." According to Giglio, the state's inoculation plan exempts professors, administrators, and staff and violates the rights of students to make choices about their own health. "Using college admission to force vaccines on students who don't want them is completely out of line with a free society," Giglio said. "I don't think the shots should be forced on people or made a prerequisite to attend college, whether they receive FDA approval or not." The assemblywoman, a former town councilwoman in Riverhead, pointed to many reports of side effects and complications which, she said, have not been fully investigated as a key reason for students to be wary of the vaccines. "We are looking at a huge experiment on society with a vaccine that was rushed into production without the appropriate research," Giglio said. "Let's not make our younger population part of this experiment, especially if there is greater risk of harm from the drug than from COVID. The most cautious approach at this point would be to allow students to simply attend school without the vaccine until we know more about this biological agent." According to a release sent out by Giglio, Gale Baldwin said her grandson graduated from Suffolk Community and is set to attend Farmingdale in the fall, but the vaccine requirement may cancel his plans. "His mother is a nurse, and she does not believe the vaccine is safe," Baldwin said. "No one in our family is getting the shots because we believe the risk of the vaccine is worse than the virus itself." Giglio also said Shannon Reitz, whose daughter is enrolled in the early college student acceptance program at Suffolk Community College, believes "forcing vaccines on families that don't want them is wrong and our children will be left behind even further if they are denied a normal educational experience." Reitz added: "We are a single-parent household relying on the reduced tuition this program offers to help minimize college costs. Now, my daughter is being told she may not be able to pursue this opportunity because she refuses to get an untested vaccination. This is a terrible policy for the health of our children and their economic future." Giglio will host a press conference on the issue at the H. Lee Dennison Building Armed Forces Plaza in Hauppauge Friday at 11 a.m.