CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The bill passed a House committee last week. It would prevent government agencies, public school systems, and universities from requiring their students or employees to be vaccinated from COVID-19.
UNC currently does not require staff or students to receive a vaccine or booster, and they do not have to indicate whether or not they are vaccinated. The state government also does not mandate vaccines.
House Republican Jon Hardister, one of the primary sponsors of the bill, says that he has worries about the safety of the vaccine and that the bill is a precaution in case of any more mandates.
“It is an effort to be proactive and provide peace of mind for state employees and citizens who may be worried that the mandate could return if there was an escalation and a mutation of the virus,” says Hardister.
David Wohl, an expert in infectious disease, says that the vaccines have proven to be safe and that the bill would be devastating if a new variant emerged.
“This law would prevent us from implementing the major tool that we have in our toolbox to prevent us from having this spread,” Wohl says. “Why would we do that to ourselves?”
The bill contains some exemptions for healthcare facilities.