The State University of New York has drafted a new policy regarding proof of vaccinations for incoming students. This policy, if enacted, will attempt to further incentivize SUNY students to provide immunization records to prevent potential disease outbreaks.
College President Denise A. Battles and other faculty received the drafted policy amendment from SUNY in early August and submitted their feedback. SUNY plans to finalize and implement this policy at the start of the Spring 2019 semester, according to Geneseo Health Services.
Interim Principal Student Health Administrator Steve Radi explained the process in which Geneseo Health Services determined the outcome of the policy.
“The idea was New York State was collecting all of the feedback from each individual campus as to whether or not they support the proposed policy change,” Radi said. “This campus did support the draft policy change, which I am pleased with.”
The proposed policy states that before students move into a residence hall, their immunization records must be accounted for by the college, according to Radi.
“From a public health standpoint, this makes sense,” Radi said. “All of a sudden, we have 5,000 students coming together, carrying all of their infectious disease baggage with them, coming together on campus. At that point, if you have an outbreak before we have all of that data about immunizations, we are put in a very vulnerable position.”
Students who attend an institution for secondary education in NYS and take more than six credit hours must be vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella and meningococcal disease, according to current NYS Public Law Section 2165-2167.
In-state students must submit proof of their immunizations to their institution within 30 days from the first day of classes, and 45 days for international or out-of-state students.
“Our immunization deadline has always been the first of June,” Radi said. “The problem with it is, there is no ‘teeth’ behind it. So, our staff spends the entire summer, well into the fall, getting to 100 percent immunization compliance.”
Under NYS Public Law 2167, the Department of Health Immunization Program has the legal authority to ensure that schools throughout the state comply with immunization requirements. This law requires that “no institution shall permit any student to attend the institution in excess of thirty days” in an attempt to enforce the public health law.
Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Community Leonard Sancilio explained his role in maintaining students’ immunization records.
“In the past, Student Health and Counseling would send postcards, emails and make phone calls to try and reach compliance of the law before the 30 days expires,” Sancilio said. “Invariably, often students do not comply with their requests. Health Services would then notify me with information regarding those who have yet to comply. I would then begin sending messages out informing students again that if they are not in by a certain date, you will be de-registered from classes and asked to leave campus despite on-campus residency.”
Radi further explained the procedures by which SUNY guarantees that campuses follow the new policy.
“SUNY comes in and checks if we have every student’s immunization records,” Radi said. “They come unannounced and we do have to submit a report every year regarding student compliance. For every student that is non-compliant, the college pays a fine per student.”
In 2016 and 2017, a number of cases and outbreaks were reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and were “primarily associated with college campuses;” one of the reasons being was the intense exposure to the virus in close settings like college campuses, according to the CDC.
“During our Mumps outbreak of November of 2016, we were well past the deadline for students to submit proof of immunization,” Radi said. “We were able to identify right away which of our students were vulnerable for whatever reason. Our immunocompromised students who were at risk for being very, very ill for months, were able to be secured and protected because we had all of our immunization data for students.”
If SUNY drafted a policy amendment that requires students to submit their records before they move in, Health Services feels they will be better equipped to promote public health, according to Sancilio.
“You get 1,200-1,500 students who will be joining us on campus in the fall,” Sancilio said. “They start getting their acceptances in January, February, March. Beginning then, students are notified that state law requires proof of immunization, or documentation that explains your lack of immunization due to religious observance. Then, those in Lauderdale work all summer and well into the semester to get students to comply with the state law.”
Exemptions from immunization requirements may be granted to students who have medical exemptions or religious exemption’s, according to NYS Department of Health. In the event of an outbreak, these exempted individuals should avoid exposure with the disease.
“We reached complete compliance this year of students submitting their immunizations on Sept. 14,” Radi said. “That is, about two to three weeks ahead of what we have gotten in the past. Now, was that good enough? No. Classes began Aug. 27, and if there was an outbreak, we would not have had all of that data in. But, we were able to improve it just by working hard at it and it took lots of staff time.”
Health Services has instituted policies specific to Geneseo that have increased compliance working within the contents of the current law. Technological changes, such as the New York State Immunization Information System, was helpful in reaching compliance sooner.
“We have been pushing for years to find a better solution that doesn’t require such labor-intensive work out of Lauderdale,” Sancilio said. “They work so hard to try and get 100 percent compliance.”