Louisiana’s higher education officials are encouraging students to get COVID-19 vaccines before returning for in-person instruction next fall, but they do not plan to require it.
LSU Interim President Tom Galligan released a statement late Monday saying that the school could not require vaccinations given that federal regulators approved the vaccines for emergency use without completing full safety investigations. Dr. Jim Henderson, president of the University of Louisiana System, cited the same reason in saying that he did not plan to require vaccinations before students return in the fall.
The universities in Louisiana are making their decisions amid a growing national debate about whether colleges can or should force students, faculty members and staff to be vaccinated.
Galligan said LSU officials were encouraged that more than 10,000 students and employees had already gotten the vaccine, and he strongly urging the others to do so before the fall to provide a safer campus. LSU has more than 34,000 students on its main Baton Rouge campus and branches with thousands of other students in other cities.
