That extra stamp might offer a slight layer of protection for institutions considering COVID-19 requirements
Of the more than 500 college and universities requiring COVID-19 vaccines for students in the fall, a small percentage have chosen to add the tagline “with FDA approval” because doses still have not surpassed emergency use authorization.
One of those, at least initially, was the University of California system. But on Tuesday, it announced it was reversing course and moving forward without it after consultations with student health directors and faculty as well as the efficacy of the vaccines. The California State University system, meanwhile, is still standing by those words in its mandate.
Does that safer strategy provide an added layer of protection for those requiring vaccination? Perhaps, but it probably wouldn’t prevent lawsuits from being filed.
“This is a highly politically charged atmosphere, and if somebody wants to sue, they’re going to sue,” says Michael Vernick, partner in the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Washington, DC. “One of the reasons that a university might condition a mandate on a vaccine obtaining full FDA approval is that in their mind, it may reduce their litigation risk because similar requirements have generally been based on vaccines with FDA approval.”