Three students give their takes on U. booster shot mandate, temporary remote instruction

Toward the end of winter break, the University announced that it will operate in a remote format for the first two weeks of the Spring 2022 semester and require Rutgers community members to receive booster shots for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), The Daily Targum previously reported.

Several students gave their reactions to this announcement and their thoughts on whether the University's decisions are appropriate at this time.

Paul Frabizzio, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said he did not intend on receiving a booster shot prior to the mandate and thinks the new mandate violates medical freedom.

"I followed suit with the first mandate, only to show up on campus with people still testing positive, and forced to wear masks on campus," he said. "This is my opinion and I know some will not agree with it, but I believe I should have had the choice to decide what I put in my body and I don't agree with the mandate on the booster at all. It clearly has not done anything to stop the virus."

Frabizzio said he complied with the University's first vaccine mandate mostly to avoid spreading the virus to his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, but she contracted severe COVID-19 anyway.

“The very idea of a vaccine is to inhibit the body from getting and spreading a virus," he said. "To see that it is now being normalized that a vaccine still allows you to get and spread a virus but it 'makes it less severe' is an insult to science."

Alycia Santiago, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said she personally does not see any problem with students being required to receive a booster shot since she believes it protects both them and other Rutgers community members. She said she received the booster shot prior to the mandate and considered it her role in helping end the pandemic.

She did have more negative feelings about temporarily returning to online instruction due to enjoying her time on campus, she said. While her plans for the semester were not drastically affected by the University’s new measures, she said she still prefers in-person classes over online instruction. 

“The classroom environment is difficult to replicate and it is how most college students are accustomed to learning,” Santiago said. “I definitely do have reservations about returning to online learning because being in-person is the optimal way for me to learn, but I don't have control over the situation so all I can do is just wait it out.”

Nathan Gotz, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences junior, said he expected the University to switch to online classes and was glad to see the change is only supposed to last for two weeks. He said his experience with online instruction has been varied, as he finds attending classes in a virtual setting more convenient but also more distracting. 

“Taking online classes over the course of the pandemic had its pros and cons,” Gotz said. “I don’t mind the temporary return to online as long as it doesn’t get extended.”

He said he understands Rutgers’ move to an online format as the safest course of action but hopes the University does not take any extra measures. Gotz said he has peers who prefer to not receive the booster, and he does not believe that the decision should affect their ability to take classes at Rutgers. 

Fabrizzio said he found it frustrating that the University decided to go back to being remote, considering how much students pay for tuition, room and board on-campus. After being in the pandemic for two years, he said it is time for people to adjust to living with the disease.

“We have the (vaccine) if you think that's the answer, we have antiviral medications and we are much more knowledgeable about how to further combat the virus,” he said. “It is now time people stop trying to flatten the curve and admit that this virus is not going anywhere and start to understand how to live with it and continue the mission.”

Meanwhile, Santiago said the University is ultimately taking the correct measures in the current state of the pandemic.

“The school wouldn't be able to operate if everyone who got COVID-19 had to be out sick,” she said. “This wave of the pandemic isn't supposed to calm down until at least February so (the University) are just taking the precautions they need to take in order to be able to effectively run.''