Why not all COG municipalities are in favor of pushing Penn State to take action on COVID vaccines
Citing personal choice, a representative from College Township declined Tuesday to support a region-wide open letter urging Penn State require the COVID-19 vaccine — although such a letter could still be formally approved before month’s end.
The Centre Region Council of Governments, which is comprised of State College Borough and five neighboring townships, held a special meeting of the executive committee Tuesday morning to discuss the prospect of formally urging the local university to mandate the vaccine. But, because College Township objected and prevented a unanimous vote, the letter was not formally approved.
It could still be put up for a simple majority vote when the full Council of Governments (COG) meets 7 p.m. Aug. 23. Or the municipalities could choose to send their own individual letters in the meantime, similar to the borough’s move last week.
“We’re talking about a virus that’s been around 18 months and a vaccine that’s been around significantly less — and a vaccine that still isn’t fully approved by the FDA,” said Rich Francke, vice chair of the College Township board of supervisors. “With that being said, I chose to get a vaccine. And that’s my choice. But to tell someone else they have to put something in gave some of us some concern.”
Francke went on to add that his township wouldn’t appreciate if the university approached them and demanded their residents get vaccinated. So likewise, he said, the reverse should hold true.
No other municipality appeared to agree with College Township’s sentiment. Representatives from State College Borough and the townships of Ferguson, Harris and Patton voiced support of a potential letter. (A rep for Halfmoon Township was absent at Tuesday morning’s meeting.)
Laura Dininni, of Ferguson Township, especially wasn’t buying the last part of Francke’s argument.
“I’ll also add that Penn State did actually ask us to do stuff in this pandemic,” she said. “They very clearly came to us and asked for masking mandates. They very clearly came to Ferguson Township and asked us to buy (‘Mask Up’) flags to put on light posts, which we did, and then we used our staff to put those flags on the light posts. That was a direct request from Penn State University — so we have partnered with them in many things related to managing community health throughout this pandemic.”
Little was debated Tuesday morning, as most officials expressed publicly that there was no point in it. Francke spoke for College Township, and the township was not going to change its mind that morning — so there was no point in further discussing a letter that required unanimity and wouldn’t receive it.
The half-hour meeting centered just as much on the letter’s next steps, which remain unclear. The next executive meeting is 12:15 p.m. Aug. 19.
Tuesday’s conversation remained civil, and Francke softly expressed his thoughts while other officials listened without interjecting. The College Township official calmly explained that Centre County was only previously labeled as having “substantial” transmission because of its positivity rate, which he didn’t feel was an overly accurate way to gauge transmission. He felt cases per 100,000 residents was a better metric.
But, based on the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Francke acknowledged he did not have, the county currently has “substantial” transmission because of its cases per 100,000 residents — although it does barely meet the threshold. Centre County has 51.11 such cases over the last seven days, nearly double the rate from two weeks ago, meeting the “substantial” definition that calls for between 50 and 100 such weekly cases.
Francke was correct in asserting the Food and Drug Administration has not yet fully approved the vaccine, although it received emergency use authorization after several months of clinical trials. More than 160 million people in the U.S. are currently vaccinated, and full approval is expected within as soon as a few weeks. Experts overwhelmingly agree any side effects from the vaccine are incredibly minimal compared to the coronavirus.
“We don’t want to be confrontational,” said Dennis Hameister, COG chair and Harris Township supervisor, referring to the potential PSU letter. “At the same time ... recognize that there are weaknesses to what they’re doing that we are curious about.”
The COG’s discussion of a letter urging vaccine mandates for Penn State comes on the heels of several similar letters. Two local PSU student governments recently penned a joint letter asking for mandates, along with a letter from the faculty-based group Coalition for a Just University. To date, more than 1,100 faculty members and more than 1,400 community members have signed the CJU letter that doubles as a petition.
Both Penn State’s faculty senate and undergraduate student government (at University Park) have also passed formal resolutions requesting a mandate. Penn State has consistently bristled at the pleas, instead saying it encourages vaccination but intends only to “heavily incentivize” it.
Half of the Big Ten currently requires a vaccine. Based on non-scientific surveys conducted from anonymous Penn State polls, PSU estimates that 82% of University Park students are currently vaccinated along with 93% of UPark employees.
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 5:28 PM.
