Boo to the Booster Shots

This past Sunday, Cornell marked a month of COVID alert level green.  Rather than celebrating the passing of a whole thirty-one days with “rare” cases and “controlled” transmission, the solemn occasion came and went sans recognition from the administration, save for a rather ominous email from the depths of Day Hall:

“Cornell is not requiring members of our community to receive a booster at this time; however, as breakthrough cases continue to occur, we encourage you to consider receiving a booster once eligible.” – Vice Provost Koretzky

Many returning Cornellians might find this verbiage alarmingly familiar.  Just days before the hammer dropped on the Fall 2021 vaccine requirement, these same administrators “encourage[d] all individuals to get vaccinated as soon as you are eligible to do so.”  Cornell is clearly saying the quiet part out loud, verbatim repeating themselves from not even a year ago.  Only three days elapsed between the administration’s “strong recommendation” and the blanket mandate to which we have been subjected.  Thus, “how long” seems to be the only reasonable question.

Evidently, Cornell is perfectly content to continue usurping the bodily autonomy of its students.  Notwithstanding the ubiquitous mask mandate that far too many have grown to appreciate, this potential new decree is simply a step too far.

Institutions around the country have been plagued by the vaccine paradox since the moment of the first Pfizer injection.  The public health powers-that-be simultaneously argue the vaccine’s ultimate effectiveness and bemoan the commonality of breakthrough cases, which are so widespread that continued restrictions are imperative.

However, breakthrough cases are not widespread at all on Cornell’s campus.  The administration has been placed in the position of having its authoritarian cake and eating it too, which it happily does while threatening further mandates.  While a booster requirement has not yet been decreed necessary by the folks in Day Hall, the certainty of that conclusion was all but settled in the opening words of Koretzky’s October 25^th email.

Risk assessment has oft been maligned throughout almost two years of COVID, but the actual risk posed by the booster cannot be ignored if a mandate does follow.  Even the FDA, before succumbing to political pressure, overwhelmingly rejected booster shots for all but the most vulnerable Americans.  Twenty-something college students are not among this demographic, and especially for males, subsequent COVID vaccine doses exponentially increase the rare occurrence of myocarditis.

The vaccine mafia habitually answers any question of the vaccine’s necessity with accusations of murderous intent.  After all, antivaxxers are complicit in the murder of Grandma.  Yet, if the shot is as effective at preventing a severe response as its defenders argue, the vaccination status of those nearby could not be less relevant.

Cornell’s opaque standards for declaring an end to the pandemic have been extensively critiqued, but a deeper truth lies underneath the veneer of COVID mitigation.  Cornell is an inherently risk-averse institution.  Understandably, the administration will never stick its neck out lest they be buried in hundreds of lawsuits.  They will not change until circumstances force them to.  Preferably, a CDC-proclaimed end to the pandemic would certainly give Cornell the maneuvering space to lessen restrictions, but as the White House fixes its lazy eyes upon zero-COVID, such an assertion is doubtful.  More likely, the status quo will remain unless and until we who say “Enough” become the intransigent majority.

This article was written by a member of the Cornell community who wishes to remain anonymous.