CUNY SUNY Covid Shot Mandate Does Not Exist!

From John Gilmore

7/12/21

NY Take Action: CUNY and SUNY student Covid shot mandate is a Cuomo bluff

     Despite publicity to the contrary, there is no current requirement to get a Covid shot to attend either the State University of New York (SUNY) or the City University of New York (CUNY). No law was passed, the Governor does not have the legal authority to force vaccinate anybody, and neither do the Boards of Trustees of CUNY or SUNY. In short, he is bluffing to scare college students into getting the shots, and to put pressure on private schools to enforce policies he himself cannot enact. Clearly, the vaccine industry wants to force everyone to get Covid shots, they are starting with the college students, if we stop them here it will be much more difficult for them to get anyone else.

     We would like some guidance from CUNY and SUNY on what legal authority would enable them to compel vaccination as a condition of attending.

     Please click TAKE ACTION to send messages to James Malatras, Chancellor of SUNY and Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, Chancellor of CUNY ask them how they are supposed to legally force the students to get shots.

     And give them a call too:

James Malatras, Chancellor of SUNY, (518) 320-1355

Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, Chancellor of CUNY, (646) 664-9100

     There is a lot of confusion about this issue due to many inaccurate statements like this one from the CUNY website:

“Earlier today, Governor Cuomo announced that COVID-19 vaccinations will be required for all students attending in-person classes beginning this fall.” https://www.cuny.edu/coronavirus/university-updates/covid-vaccine-required-for-in-person-fall-classes/

     And erroneous headlines like this one from University Business, “Cuomo: SUNY, CUNY students must get COVID-19 vaccines”.

     And, of course, statements from the Governor himself,

“So, today, no excuses, SUNY and CUNY boards will require vaccinations for all in-person students coming back in the fall.” Cuomo said at the press conference on May 10, “You are a young person, a student at a CUNY or SUNY, you must have a vaccine to comeback in September. “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUy5D4JscSA beginning at 9:59

     This confusion stems from the initial announcement from the Governor on May 10, which said something far different from how it has been spun.

“Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the SUNY and CUNY boards will require proof of vaccination for all students attending in-person classes this fall, and encouraged all private universities and colleges to adopt the same guidelines.”

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-suny-and-cuny-boards-require-vaccinations-all-students-attending

     The Governor did not say he would require the shots. Because he knew full well that he did not have that authority to do so, even under a declared “disaster emergency” (which is now rescinded.) Cuomo even admitted as much, “The Covid-19 vaccine cannot be mandated for colleges because it is approved only for emergency use authorization and is not licensed by the FDA.”

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/new-york-gov andrew-cuomo-covid-19-press-conference-transcript-may-10 

     So, Cuomo passed the buck to the boards of CUNY and SUNY. But here we are two months later, and the Boards of the Universities have not taken any action to require the shots, because they do not have the authority to require shots either. And the Governor has no statutory way to compel the university boards to implement a mandate.

    The only way CUNY and SUNY students could be forced to get Covid shots would be if:

1) The Covid shots were fully licensed by the FDA, which they are not, AND,

2)  A law would have to be passed by the New York legislature, and they are out of session until January 2021 and signed by the Governor requiring the shots, similar to the law that requires a measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), the only shot currently required to attend college which you can see the enabling law here:

https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._public_health_law_section_2165

     During the Covid “disaster emergency” the Governor possibly could have issued an executive order requiring a vaccine fully licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But none of the Covid shots are fully licensed by the FDA. They are available under only an “emergency use authorization” (EUA) and federal law requires the secretary of Health and Human Services to “ensure that individuals to whom the product is administered are informed … of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product.”

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/360bbb-3

     Similarly, the FDA’s guidance on emergency use authorization of medical products requires the FDA to “ensure that recipients are informed to the extent practicable given the applicable circumstances … That they have the option to accept or refuse the EUA product…”

https://www.fda.gov/media/97321/download pg. 28

     So how Cuomo gets this done is obscure, but the misinformation is flowing thick, so please share this information with college students and families of college students who may not know the facts.

    Please share this message with friends and family and please share on social media while we still can.