On Friday, the Arizona Board of Regents announced that all of Arizona’s public universities are forcing their employees to either get the COVID-19 vaccine or try to get a medical exemption or religious accommodation.
President Biden’s Executive Order requires companies that contract with the federal government like the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University to require their employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by December 8.
The Regents implied that preserving the “hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts, funding critical research, employment and educational efforts” justified a forced vaccination policy.
“We respect individual opinions regarding the vaccine and will include disability (including medical) and religious accommodations consistent with federal rules,” the Regent’s statement read.
Researchers found that it is the highly educated who are not only the most skeptical about getting vaccinated but are also the least likely to change their minds about it.
This past legislative session, Senators Shope and Ugenti-Rita paved the way for Biden’s Executive Order. The two senators voted against House Bill 2190, which would have prohibited the exact same behavior that Biden’s executive order mandates. HB2190 failed 13-16-1 in the Senate when Shope joined democrats in voting against the bill and Ugenti-Rita chose not to vote.