MSJC Drafting New COVID-19 Vaccination, Testing Protocols

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — In the coming weeks, Mt. San Jacinto College students, faculty and staff will likely see new protocols for coronavirus vaccination and testing.

The Mt. San Jacinto Community College District Board of Trustees voted 3-2 Thursday to approve the development and implementation of a COVID-19 vaccination and testing program. Trustees Ann Motte and Brian Sylva cast the no votes.

The decision, in response to the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the region, authorizes the district to implement a program designed to "further protect students, faculty, and staff against COVID-19 and its variants."

The program protocols will be discussed at the next Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for September 9.

According to Riverside University Health System data, nearly 60 percent of college-age students in the county are unvaccinated: 58.4 percent of county residents ages 18-24 are unvaccinated; 57.2 percent of residents ages 25-44 have not received the vaccines.

The California State University and University of California systems announced earlier this summer that COVID-19 vaccinations were required for students, faculty and staff. Some California community colleges have done likewise.

While the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office does not have the legal authority to require vaccinations systemwide, it has urged all local community college districts to "exercise their authority to adopt vaccination mandates with flexibility where vaccines are not possible due to medical conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs."

The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has determined, based on current state laws, that the responsibility for deciding whether to impose a vaccination requirement is within the authority of community college districts.

"We are aware of no California law that is inconsistent with community college districts having authority over the vaccination of their campus populations," wrote Marc LeForestier, general counsel for the CCC, in a May 7 letter. "To the contrary, where the Legislature has enacted relevant statutes, it has refrained from regulating community college district authority over vaccinations, but has identified community college districts as having authority over communicable diseases."

On June 15, the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees approved a resolution to require FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccinations for its students, faculty, staff, and administrators who work or attend classes onsite at the colleges or district. The district operates three campuses: Moreno Valley College, Norco College, and Riverside City College.

The Food and Drug Administration is reportedly poised to give full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech's two-dose COVID-19 vaccine as early as Monday, the New York Times reported Friday. Full approval is likely to trigger a string of new mandates for students, faculty and staff — like those in the Riverside Community College District and possibly MSJC.

MSJC operates campuses in Menifee, the San Gorgonio Pass Area, San Jacinto, and Temecula. Currently, the district urges COVID-19 vaccination but does not require it. Face coverings are mandated in all indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status, and officials have implemented a daily "COVID-19 Self-Check" system that requires students, staff and campus visitors to self-attest to any known exposure.

The fall semester began Monday.

MSJC leaders are eyeing the increase in COVID-19 cases.

On Friday, coronavirus-related hospitalizations ticked up again in Riverside County. A total of 557 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized countywide, an increase of 78 people since last Friday. The 557 figure includes 106 intensive care unit patients. Last Friday, 89 COVID-19 patients were in ICU.

The data provided by Riverside University Health System also showed 1,205 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday, bringing the total number of cases recorded in the county to 325,944 since March 2020 when the pandemic began.

Since last Friday, 6,211 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the county, according to RUHS data.

The county's COVID-19 death toll now stands at 4,697 — an increase of 12 people reported over the last week. Fatalities are trailing indicators because of delays processing death certificates and can date back weeks.