Johns Hopkins University Drops COVID-19 Shot Mandate for Non-Health Care Students

A general view of The Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore, Md., on March 28, 2020. Rob Carr/Getty Images

Johns Hopkins University has ended its COVID-19 shot mandate for the majority of its students as an increasing number of schools across the country continue to drop the requirement that students be forced to take the controversial shot before enrolling.

The school updated its medical requirements for new non-health care students this morning: “In consultation with the Johns Hopkins University Health Advisory Group and other public health experts across our campuses, Johns Hopkins University will strongly encourage, but no longer require, at least one dose the COVID-19 vaccine series.”

However, the school noted that “School of Medicine students, trainees, and employees continue to follow Johns Hopkins Medicine policies and are still required to submit COVID-19 vaccination documents.”

The new policy will take effect April 1.

The policy change is only the latest sign that the COVID-19 shot mandates are coming to an end. Last week, three more universities—Depauw University, Bates College, and Ohio Wesleyan University—dropped their COVID-19 shot requirements, according to advocacy group No College Mandates, bringing the total number of schools still requiring the shot to its lowest number since spring 2021.

No College Mandates co-founder Lucia Sinatra, which describes itself as a “group of concerned parents, doctors, nurses, professors, students, and other college stakeholders working towards the common goal of ending COVID-19 vaccine mandates,” told The Epoch Times the change is another indication that the country is moving in the right direction.

“This is definitely another positive step towards health freedom,” Mrs. Sinatra said.“These schools are facing a lot of public pressure as it becomes increasingly difficult for them to continue to justify these mandates without looking like complete clowns.”

However, Mrs. Sinatra called the policy change “bittersweet,” and was hopeful that all students at Johns Hopkins would be allowed to make the medical decisions they felt to be in their own personal best interest.

“I can’t see it as a complete win,” said Mrs. Sinatra, who had hoped that after Harvard ended its mandate for all students earlier this month, other schools would quickly follow.

On March 5, Harvard University announced on its website that it was ending its COVID-19 shot requirement, posting: “Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) will no longer require students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. We strongly recommend that all members of the Harvard community stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters if eligible.”

“I had believed that since Harvard, which was the second school to announce mandates, had dropped its medical requirements for all students, that Johns Hopkins would follow, and that obviously didn’t happen yet,” said Mrs. Sinatra.

“How does Harvard drop the mandates for all students, including medical students, but not Johns Hopkins?” she added.

The number of schools requiring the shot—as well as the number of Americans who believe it is both safe and effective—has fallen as the past two years have seen the vaccine mired in controversy. More than 80 percent of Americans took the original COVID-19 shots after officials pledged that they would effectively prevent infection and stop the spread of the disease. However, once it was revealed that the shots didn’t work as promised, interest in the subsequent booster decreased dramatically.

The shots are also linked to widespread reports of adverse health outcomes believed to have been caused by the therapies. COVID-19 shots have been named the primary suspect in over 1.5 million adverse event reports, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database. The numbers could be even higher. An NIH funded study out of Harvard found that VAERS cases represent fewer than 1 percent of vaccine adverse events.

However, despite the number of schools that have already opted out, COVID-19 shot mandates continue to be in effect for students at 40 out of the top 800 colleges in the United States, according to recent data acquired by No College Mandates.

Some of the remaining schools that continue to mandate the shot have faced increased scrutiny from students and officials.

Earlier this month, New Jersey state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, a Republican in the 13th District, called on Rutgers University to be stripped of state funding due to its continued mandate that staff and faculty be forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It is difficult to put into words just how absurd and irrational the vaccination policy is at Rutgers University,” Mr. O’Scanlon said in a statement. “The 2024-2025 semester is just around the corner and the administrators at Rutgers still insist that all students, faculty, and staff receive the COVID-19 vaccine—a policy that has no basis in science whatsoever. In fact, the entire policy is anti-science.

“Until Rutgers lifts the mandate, I’m calling for a cut in funding. And, students who are thinking about going to Rutgers, but are not going due to the vaccine mandate, should be able to apply for school aid to use at whatever institution they want,” he added.

Rutgers stated on its website that the policy has been implemented “to minimize COVID outbreaks” and “to prevent and reduce the risk of COVID transmission.”

New Jersey taxpayers currently pay for about one-fifth of operating costs at Rutgers, which derives 21.4 percent of its revenue from state appropriations, according to the school.

Mrs. Sinatra believes that as the tide of public opinion continues to grow against the COVID-19 shot, that it is only a matter of time before every school in the country restores health autonomy to its students.

“As more data comes out these schools look more and more ridiculous by the day,” said Mrs. Sinatra. “I would be shocked if they are not all over by fall enrollment except for health care students.”

“Still, until all these schools drop their mandates and restore medical freedom to all of our students, our work is not done.”