Governor Mike DeWine has signed a bill prohibiting public schools and colleges in Ohio from requiring emergency use COVID-19 vaccines.
Other provisions stated in the proposed legislation, which will take effect after 90 days, include forbidding the Ohio public education system from discriminating against unvaccinated students, such as banning them from participating in school activities.
State schools and universities cannot require them to strictly follow extra safety protocols compared to those who have been inoculated.
Vaccine Scare
DeWine attributed the hesitancy of Ohio residents to get vaccinated to the emergency use status of some vaccines, stating that the FDA must move quickly to give these vaccines full approval.
“It is past time for the FDA to take into account that hundreds of millions of people have received these vaccines, and move it from an emergency basis over to a regular basis,” said DeWine. “That will help us, in Ohio and across the country, to get more people vaccinated.”
“We are confident that these vaccines, proven repeatedly to be very safe and very effective, will be approved by the FDA, thus rendering this issue moot,” added Dan Tierney, the governor’s spokesperson.
Cleveland State University responded to Fox 8 News regarding the law.
“Over the last three semesters, our students, faculty and staff have worked hard to keep our community safe. As a result, Cleveland State University achieved one of lowest infection rates among urban universities in the country,” the statement read. “As the state begins to emerge from the pandemic, we look forward to fully implementing the new law and resuming normal operations this fall.”