Frederick Community College Trustees Discuss COVID Vaccine Mandates

They’re waiting tor regulation from OSHA before taking any action.

Frederick, Md (KM) Whether to require vaccines for Frederick Community College students and staff was a topic at Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting. This discussion came about as FCC awaits more details on the COVID-19 vaccine  mandate issued by President Biden. It requires employers with 100 or more on staff to require their employees to be vaccinated, or undergo periodic testing for COVID.

FCC Interim President Tom Powell was ready to introduce a vaccine mandate on Wednesday. “In the policy that I sent around, I suggested for discussion on this campus. we said everybody students and faculty by January 5th had to show proof {of vaccination}, or get a waiver, wear the mask, get tested all that stuff. So January 5th, anticipating it,” he said.

But Powell says right now, COVID is not running rampant on campus. “Bottom line is we have very few active cases on our campus right now, running into twos and threes. It will fluctuate. But there is nothing I’m going home and saying ‘Oh by God, we’ve got a problem,'” he says.

During the Wednesday meeting, Trustee Dr. April Miller said she’s opposed to vaccine mandates for students. “Students in the age group that we’re going to be serving are being affected by the vaccine,” she said. “And I’m not going to put a mandate on a 17 and 18-year-old, especially a young man right now, where you have absolute side affects that may actually be worse than them having COVID.”

With the vaccine mandate in place, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been tasked to put together the rules and regulations. So far, that’s not come down.

Chairman Tom Lynch said the Board of Trustees is expected to take this issue up again during its meeting in November. “What I’m hearing is we want to know what’s happing with OSHA, and the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration presumably will have to follow suit based on Maryland law,” he said.

Next month’s meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 17th beginning at 5:30 PM.

By Kevin McManus