Brandon University faculty join calls for mandatory vaccinations as fall term approaches

An association representing hundreds of Brandon University staff is calling on the school to mandate vaccines for faculty, students, and all others attending or working on campus this fall.

“We believe that the health and safety of students, staff and faculty are of paramount importance to the Brandon University community,” said Gautam Srivastava, president of the Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA).

“We believe this is a reasonable step we can take to ensure as normal a return to campus life as we can expect during the fall term.”

The call for a vaccine mandate, passed last week by the association’s executive, comes on the heels of a similar call from the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations (MOFA), which represents university faculty and staff across the province, as well as by the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association last week.

A number of schools across the country — including Seneca College in Toronto and the University of Ottawa — have already made vaccinations a requirement for the coming school term.

“We’re seeing a number of institutions adopting vaccine mandates across Canada for the simple reason that they want to protect students, staff, and faculty,” said Jon-Tomas Godin, BUFA vice-president.

“Especially for those under 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated, we want to ensure that we can do everything we can do to protect our community.”

1:04 Faculty association calling for mandatory vaccination at Manitoba post-secondary schools