Protestors says no to mandatory vaccinations at U of L

Earlier this month, nine post-secondary institutions, including the University of Lethbridge announced that all students, visitors and teachers will have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the schools. Well, not everyone is in favour of that idea. Some protestors gathered outside of the U of L Thursday afternoon to say no to mandatory vaccines.

Jaime Hellam was one of the protestors at the rally today, and she says it shouldn’t be up to any governing body to decide what goes into another persons body.

“It should be our choice no matter what. Whether you’re pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, we should all have the right to choose what goes into our body. Especially where there’s risk, there should be a choice.”

Mandatory vaccinations will be required starting on November 1st to enter the campus at the University of Lethbridge, unless students and staff can provide a medical exemption.

Rapid testing is no longer an alternative to not receiving a vaccination at the university.

The University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, MacEwan University, Medicine Hat College, Mount Royal University, NAIT, SAIT, and NorQuest College all decided to recently implement mandatory vaccinations.

Below is a list of the following measures set forth by the universities:

• Campus community members and visitors will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend campuses.

• Campus community members and visitors will be required to provide proof of vaccination.

• Rapid testing will no longer be accepted as an alternative to vaccination, except for campus community members who cannot be vaccinated based on medical or other protected grounds outlined in the Alberta Human Rights Act. These individuals should follow the self-declaration exemption procedures already in place at their post-secondary institution and will be reasonably accommodated.