Victoria University of Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Victoria University of Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Victoria University of Wellington is so far the only New Zealand university to declare a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for students in halls of residence.
On Friday the university announced vaccination against Covid-19 would be mandatory for all students and staff living and working in student accommodation in 2022.
All New Zealand universities contacted by NZME said they had either not made a decision on a vaccination mandate yet, or were waiting on advice from the Ministry of Education.
Auckland University, which has been a location of interest on several occasions during the current outbreak, has also so far not finalised its position.
A spokesperson said they were consulting with staff on a proposed plan, and planned to release their official decision in the coming fortnight.
Michael Turnbull, President of student association VUWSA, said it was "a bold move" for Victoria University of Wellington to declare the vaccine mandate.
— Te Herenga Waka—Wellington Uni (@WellingtonUni) October 15, 2021
"On the whole we think this is the right decision for the health and safety of our students and halls of residence," he said.
"I think it's really important because we have to acknowledge that halls of residence and student accommodation are high risk areas for Covid to strike," he said.
"You've got a high concentration of youth in a singular area, and we have to be really careful and make sure they are safe, and that they're vaccinated because otherwise this could become a hive of Covid."
But Turnbull was also concerned the mandate could exclude some marginalised groups – such as disabled students, or Māori students - from halls of residence.
"We know that the vaccine rollout hasn't had everyone vaccinated effectively at the same time," he said.
"This has meant that certain groups and certain student groups have been left out from getting vaccinated.
"What the university really needs to focus on is working with these student groups - particularly disabled student groups, or tauira Māori and Pasifika - to make sure they aren't actually getting disadvantaged from entering the halls because of the slow rollout of vaccinations in these communities."
Victoria University of Wellington has become the first in the country to impose a vaccine mandate for students in halls of residence. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Victoria University of Wellington Vice chancellor Grant Guilford said the university had come to the decision after going through a detailed risk assessment of how Delta could be transmitted in the halls of residence.
"We looked at whether the current measures we have in place – such as social distancing, mask wearing and normal hygiene, whether that would handle a variant as infectious as delta, and the answer was no,' he said.
"So we felt like we needed to add another layer of protection, being the vaccine."
He said the vaccine mandate was designed to protect minority students rather than disadvantage them.
"The risk of infection for our Māori and Pasifika students and their families is higher than the risks for other parts of our society," he said.
"We wouldn't see a rationale around equity and diversity for not doing this, we would actually see a rationale for doing this - to better protect some parts of our community that may be more disadvantaged."
With applications for halls of residence already "pouring in", Guilford said they had made the vaccine mandate very clear across all the communication channels.
"The best thing is to get out early to give people time to understand what our requirements are and for them to make a different choice if they want to make that," he said.
"Part of our thinking was that we should lead on this issue as well, hence being one of the early universities out of the gate on this."
Across the country, most other universities said they were waiting on official advice.
A University of Otago spokesperson said they had not yet received guidelines on student vaccine mandates in halls of residence.
"We understand these guidelines are still in the process of being worked out by the relevant agencies, and we will make our decisions for 2022 when we have them.
"What we do will be in accordance with those requirements and guidelines."
Spokespeople from Massey and Lincoln universities also said they would also be waiting for vaccination guidelines to be released by the Ministry of Education.
Waikato University said it was considering the issues, but would need further consultation before making a decision.
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) also said it would be following government advice regarding vaccination requirements in student accommodation, but confirmed all staff had already received at least one dose.
"AUT continues to strongly encourage students to vaccinate in accordance with Government messaging," a spokesperson said.
Accommodation Portfolio Services director at the University of Canterbury Greg Scott said the university was working alongside its independent accommodation providers to prioritise student safety and wellbeing.
"The University of Canterbury strongly supports the Government's vaccination campaign and worked with the Christchurch District Health Board to host an on-campus vaccination clinic that delivered more than 2000 vaccinations over three days earlier this month."
