Elon University students have one week to submit flu vaccination records before Phoenix card deactivation, disenrollment

The university will take actions to deactivate Phoenix cards if students do not comply with receiving flu vaccinations, according to Dean of Students Jana Lynn Patterson. SGA members heard from Patterson during a Student Government Association meeting on Thursday, in addition to hearing from Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Jeff Stein, who informed students there would be a clinic on campus after Thanksgiving for students to receive booster shots of the Pfizer-BioTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Flu vaccination records will be accepted until Nov. 12, and more than 1000 individuals had not yet received their vaccinations, according to Patterson. Additional measures the university could take if students do not meet the deadline to submit their flu vaccinations include not allowing students to study abroad and disenrolling students.

“That would have been the consequence for anyone who would not comply last year, but that's not the first thing,” Patterson said. “Like I said, we're going to hope that folks will take this seriously.” 

Stein told students that following Thanksgiving break there will be a clinic for COVID-19 booster shots. Additional clinics for COVID-19 booster shots will take place in January and will likely include Moderna vaccinations. As consistent with CDC policy, no matter what vaccine students received initially, students should be eligible for any booster. 

Stein reaffirmed the university’s indoor mask mandate will remain in place for now, despite members of SGA expressing discontentment with mask mandates still being in place after drops in cases and a 96% vaccination rate. 

Senator Austin Moore said she doesn’t understand certain aspects of Elon requiring students to wear masks indoors.

“What is the logic when you have places like right downstairs, people are having their masks off for as long as they want to eat, but in here, we’re up here literally a few hundred yards away and we have to wear our masks,” Moore said.

Stein said he is hopeful the university’s policy with mask mandates will change in the near future. 

“Our intention was never to wear masks indoors all year,” said Stein. “The next question is where can we remove masks.”