Most NYU students did not receive bivalent booster therapy, according to the WSN survey.

As NYU relaxes its COVID-19 requirements, most students are opting out of a second booster shot.

NYU’s COVID-19 rules are the least restrictive since they first went into effect in March 2020. At the same time, according to a WSN survey of 105 students, most of them have not yet received a bivalent booster dose of COVID-19 – the last line of defense against the virus.

Of those surveyed, 40% received a bivalent booster shot, and another 11.4% said they plan to receive the vaccine. The most common reason students chose a new booster was to protect their personal safety.

The percentage of NYU students who receive bivalent support is much higher than the 14% in New York. However, despite the higher vaccination rate, many students stated that they had not received the vaccine yet due to fear of potential side effects, busy schedules, or simply lack of motivation.

NYU sophomore Shoyo Kuwayama said he did not receive a booster dose due to side effects he experienced with previous doses of the vaccine.

“When I got the first booster required by NYU, I had [101-degree] fever,” Kuwayama said. “Because of this, I couldn’t function — that is, work or go out with friends for a day and a half — and this is a pretty big risk.”

Compared to other doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the updated booster vaccine is reported to cause fewer side effects.

Other students said they felt the bivalent booster was unnecessary due to the high rate of COVID-19 infection in New York City. decreases. Hospitalization rate for New Yorkers aged 18 to 29, which includes the majority of NYU students, at the end of January. were also low – 1.7% compared to 20.4% for the same period last year.

In a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among eligible adults, nearly 10% of those surveyed who did not receive a bivalent booster dose cited the inability to get time off as the reason they did not.

The university currently prescribes one COVID-19 booster shot, but recommends getting a bivalent dose as well. The only major university in New York currently in need of new support is Fordham University.

In its latest campus health update, NYU said that on-campus testing will soon end. From Saturday, February 11, students will no longer be required to use the short-lived Violet Go pass.

From the beginning of the fall semester 2022, the university has required Violet Go required, a digital badge that verifies vaccination status to enter NYU buildings and events. Violet Go is a more streamlined successor to the Daily Screener, which required students to complete a daily health questionnaire.

“Especially when it was cold, it was just hard to get your phone out of your pocket, and it also increases the time to get inside the building,” said Stern freshman Ansh Jootani.

The university currently requires eligible community members to receive at least one booster shot for COVID-19, and those who test positive for the virus to self-isolate and not enter NYU buildings while they are contagious.

According to spokesman John Beckman, the decision to eliminate Violet Go was made due to the university community’s high vaccination rate. As of May 2022, 99% of all NYU students and faculty have been fully vaccinated.

He noted that NYU will continue to enforce the vaccination mandate in other ways, including by excluding students who do not comply.

“We think members of the NYU community will be happy that they no longer need to show their Violet Go pass at the entrance to buildings because it will help speed up the queues to get into buildings and just reduce the hassle overall.” Beckman said.

Beckman also said NYU has no plans to announce any other changes to campus health policy at this time.

Contact Caleb Pisoni at [email protected].