The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been fully Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for more than 24 hours, and despite Miami’s COVID-19 website stating the university would be prepared to mandate vaccination once it achieved this status, officials have been silent.
Now that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 has been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Miami University students have mixed feelings about the university requiring vaccination.
Students are divided in their feelings about an exemption to Miami University’s indoor mask mandate allowing professors to take off their face coverings while instructing.
Although Miami University has mandated masks to be worn indoors on campus, student organizations will have more opportunities to meet in person this semester.
Miami University’s COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines are still a work in progress as thousands of students move back into residence halls, apartments and houses this fall.
By the end of the Aug. 17, Oxford City Council meeting, an ordinance mandating masks within the city was neither passed nor denied. The meeting was standing room only as residents showed up to speak both for and against the proposed mask mandate.
As students prepare to move back to Oxford and begin a new school year still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Miami Student has compiled a Q & A to provide the Miami community with information about what to expect during the fall 2021 semester.
Miami University will require face coverings indoors for the fall semester regardless of vaccination status. Students have expressed both opposition to and support for the decision.
Miami University will require face coverings indoors for all faculty, students and staff on campus regardless of vaccination status, beginning Monday, Aug. 9. Unvaccinated students will be subject to COVID-19 surveillance testing.
Oxford’s Brick Street Bar and Grill announced the bar will now require proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours or evidence of a positive COVID antibody test before allowing entry. The announcement came in an Instagram post Thursday, July 29.
Miami announced its new “Your Shot to Win” program in a July 13 university wide email. The program enters all full-time students who have received at least one dose of any FDA emergency authorized COVID-19 vaccine into weekly drawings for various prizes.
Plastic barriers separated Oxford’s city councilors at their June 2 meeting, the first in person City Council meeting in 15 months. Last March, the city switched to remote meetings to follow social distancing guidelines and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Oxford’s City Council voted to repeal the city’s mask ordinance at its May 18 meeting.
Oxford City Council passed a resolution at its May 4 meeting encouraging the Ohio state legislature to reject a bill limiting ballot boxes to one per county and restrict early voting in elections.
Oxford City Council lifted its ban on outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people at its May 4 meeting. The ordinance was passed as an emergency measure to go into effect immediately. Indoor gatherings of more than 10 non-household guests are still prohibited.
Miami University sophomore and freelance artist Sophia Thompson organizes her class schedule to strike the perfect science-art balance. Between her psychology and neuroscience majors, Thompson said she needs a respite from the intense studying — a relief she finds in her studio art minor.
As this unprecedented academic year comes to a close, Miami University students, faculty and administration are reflecting on the changes made and lessons learned this past year as they look toward the future.
With restrictions on bars and large group gatherings still in place in Oxford, many locals and students are resorting to throwing house parties and causing property damage as a result.
After serving 17 years and being deployed to three tours in the United States Marine Corps, 40-year old sophomore nursing major Ray Fitzpatrick traded in his military garb for nursing scrubs to help administer over 1,300 COVID-19 vaccines to the Miami University community.
Bell initially closed in October 2020, reporting that the dining hall no longer drew in enough students to justify remaining open, but the location will reopen.