By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Fewer than a dozen demonstrators braved the rain Thursday to stand by the BGSU sign across from the Bowen-Thompson Student Union to protest the university’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
Emily Smith, a graduate student political science and representative of Young Americans for Freedom on campus, said the protest was over the mandate. “”We’re not anti-vaccine. However, we want to protect medical privacy people’s right to choose what they put in their bodies their free speech rights.”
BGSU is mandating that all students, faculty and staff be vaccinated before the beginning of the spring semester. There is a process through which people can ask for exemptions on religious, personal conscience, and medical grounds. Those who are granted exemptions will have to be regularly tested for COVID-19 and adhere to protocols such as facial coverings.
Acknowledging the light turnout for the demonstration, Smith said they were expecting a few more, noting that it was raining. “We’ll see what happens.”
The protest was organized by the new BGSU chapter of Young Americans for Freedom and Turning Point USA.
No other vaccines, even for tuberculosis or polio are required. Requiring for a disease with a death rate of 0.2 percent in the United States is “an egregious violation of free speech rights,” Smith said.
A couple of the signs declared “My Body My Choice,” a slogan associated with the reproductive rights advocates.
But Smith said that was not the issue at hand on Thursday. “Women’s reproductive rights are not what we’re here to talk about today. That’s a conversation we can have another time.”
Nathan Niedzwiecki said he was protesting because “I understand several people who are concerned with how the vaccine would affect them personally, and I am standing up for those people.”
He said he would apply for an exemption under the personal conscience, though he wasn’t sure yet how he would word it.
The university’s position as reiterated in a statement issued by Alex Solis, university spokesperson, is that vaccination mandate is aimed at insuring it can continuing its educational mission. “While we recognize that FDA-approved vaccines are an effective tool to fighting COVID-19, and we strongly encourage all those who are able to get vaccinated, we also appreciate the freedoms which allow those to voice their opinions at today’s protest. … However, we absolutely believe higher education is an essential part of our society, and we will continue to focus on vaccine education and access and ensuring that BGSU is committed to offering a high-quality education for our students and to the public health of our community.”
The university stated that its exemption policy addresses the concerns of the protesters. “We strived to offer a balanced and appropriate approach that addresses the concerns raised today.”
If the gray day with spitting rain held down the numbers of anti-vaccination mandate protesters, it seemed to suit John Werthers, a junior math major, and Jeramy Smith, a first year political science major.
Standing across and facing the other demonstrators, they held signs declaring that getting the vaccine had turned them British. They expressed this in accents lifted from a Monty Python sketch.
When asked by a reporter to step out of character to comment, Werthers said: “I wish we could, but the vaccine altered our DNA.”
