McMaster, Mohawk in Hamilton keep pause on masking, COVID-19 vax mandates

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Published August 24, 2022 at 2:51 pm

The thousands of students arriving in Hamilton are not required to mask or get a third dose of vaccine against COVID-19, even though some Southern Ontario schools are restoring those public health protections.

On Wednesday, McMaster University published a letter to students and staff, under the signatures of president and vice-chancellor David Farrar, and provost and vice-president (academic) Susan Tighe, explaining it will keep a pause of any mandates. The letter said they had consulted with university faculty with expertise in “virology and other health fields.” Mohawk College is also staying the course with a pause on masks and vaccine mandates that was put in place on April 18, spokesman Bill Steinburg said in an email.

The fall term starts in early September.

“Health and safety continue to be a top priority in our planning as we head towards the fall term,” Farrar and Tighe say in the joint letter. “We have continued to follow the latest COVID-19 safety guidance from public health and the Ontario government. McMaster faculty who are experts in virology and other health fields also help to guide our decisions. All have indicated that the right course given the current circumstances is to continue to pause the vaccine mandate and to strongly encourage masking. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

“As a society, we are finding balance in how we manage the ongoing COVID challenge. We have learned to be flexible and to adapt to changing times. We know now more than ever the importance of being respectful of each other and that it is up to all of us to help keep our community safe.”

Both Mac and Mohawk will have vaccine doses available on campus, and are encouraging masking.

The letter from Farrar and Tighe says McMaster will continue to provide masks on campus. It says the school “encourage(s) our community to wear a mask indoors, especially in classrooms, libraries, crowded spaces or close workspaces.”

Mohawk, which detailed its policy in mid-May, is also emphasizing that students who have placements and co-op opportunities need to follow their employer’s policy. Anyone coming to one of its three campuses is encouraged to bring a mask.

“Mohawk College will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation but at present has suspended its mask and vaccine requirements,” the statement fron Steinburg says. “Though the mask requirement is no longer in place, anyone coming to campus is encouraged to bring and wear a mask as an added layer of protection. We will adjust our plans if conditions change or we receive new direction from Public Health authorities. Access controls and measures, such as mandatory masking and the college’s vaccination policy, could be reinstated on short notice if conditions change.”

Younger adults are not as vulnerable to the virus. But higher transmission leads to more sickness and death. In fact, confirmed COVID-19 deaths across Ontario have been more frequent this summer, without mask mandates, than they were in the summer of 2021.

Last week, Hamilton Public Health said about another 300 people in Hamilton will be hospitalized with COVID-19 by Dec. 31. That is based on Scarsin forecasting. And back in June, City of Hamilton associate medical officer of health Dr. Bart Harvey also told the board of health that by fall, there will likely be a variant of COVID-19 that is at least as transmissible as Omicron was in late 2021 and early ’22.

In each of the first two years of the ongoing pandemic, COVID-19 activity increased as cooler fall weather led people to spend less time outdoors. The virus spreads through airborne transmission and wearing a mask reduces tranmission.

Western University in London is, so far, the sole university in Ontario that is requiring two doses and a booster for access to all of its campuses. Western, Guelph, OCAD U in Toronto, Ontario Tech in Oshawa, Seneca College in Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier U. in Kitchener-Waterloo and Brantford, and the U of Windsor are all requiring masking in certain areas.

For instance, Western and Wilfrid Laurier will require masking in all instructional spaces. Guelph has created designated areas.

However, in other parts of North America, on-campus mask mandates have been reinstated. In the Maritimes, Acadia, Dalhousie, St. Francis Xavier and Saint Mary’s in Nova Scotia; Mount Allison and UNB in New Brunswick; and UPEI on Prince Edward Island are requiring masks in various indoor shared spaces, including classrooms.

All three provinces have Conservative governments, as does Ontario.

Several prestigious U.S. universities, including Harvard and Yale, are requiring students to get a third dose. Having two jabs is considered, at least by governments, to be fully vaccinated. The strength of the protections wanes several months after a dose.

Currently in Ontario, any adult age 18 or over can receive their fourth dose if it has been at least five months since their last one. Childeren under age 5, the last group to become vaccine-eligible, have been so since July 28.

Presently, the City of Hamilton COVID-19 dashboard shows virus activity is “high and stable.” The seven-day average of new cases, as of Sunday, was 77. It was exactly the same on Aug. 7. Currently, the test positivity rate is 16.3 per cent.

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