notre dame covid observer

Jenkins on one occasion was quoted as saying that Notre Dame would require all students to be fully vaccinated as a condition of enrollment for the 2021–22 academic year, a goal reiterated on April 22 in another campus-wide communique. students to be fully vaccinated as a condition of enrollment for the 2021–22 academic year, a goal reiterated on April 22 in another campus-wide communique, . This principle of self-determination is especially salient in the present circumstance. John Jenkins announced in an email Friday afternoon that 90% of Notre Dame undergraduate and graduate students have documented their second Pfizer or Moderna dose or their single Johnson & Johnson dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Phone: (574) 631-7471 / Fax: (574) 631-6927 / Address: The Observer / P.O. For that reason, there is no non-arbitrary ground to distinguish “religious” from simply “moral” objections to the vaccine.Â, Notre Dame should expand its understanding of “religious” objectors to include those whose refusal to be vaccinated are rooted in moral considerations or other objections of conscience. Oh no. The vaccines work principally by preventing anyone vaccinated from incurring serious illness, and death. Rightly understood, however, it would include as well all those persons who conscientiously judge that it would better serve their health to refuse the vaccine. Many Notre Dame students will thus reasonably judge that they risk more from the vaccine than they do from the coronavirus, especially since the vaccines would protect them only from the severe symptoms (or death) that are scarcely real risks for them. Even so: this way of thinking does not depend upon holding the Catholic faith, or adhering to any other religion. As the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) wrote in a “Note”, which Pope Francis ordered to be published: “, In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed.”Â, Of course, “as many…as possible” in this context is not a matter of available raw materials — needles, vaccines, medical personnel. Help support student-run publications. This document might also include the student’s agreement to abide by reasonable precautions, including perhaps some specific to those who are neither naturally immune nor vaccinated. “Medical” objections would most obviously include anyone whose singular condition is a contraindication for the vaccine. Jenkins announced that the University would accommodate what he called “documented medical and religious exemptions.” It is not apparent what Fr. Notre Dame student government released a statement Friday afternoon extending prayers to Jenkins and all other students, staff and faculty who are currently fighting COVID-19. The main point of that “Note” was to consider potential moral objections to vaccines that were developed from a cell line recovered decades ago from an aborted fetus. Such a student could be required to confirm in writing that he or she accepts the risks of living and studying in close quarters while unvaccinated. Saturday solidified the school’s No. Notre Dame’s experience thus far confirms too what all the science indicates, namely, that college-age students who test positive rarely experience severe symptoms. John I. Jenkins is facing a student petition pushing for him to resign and a possible "no confidence" by the faculty following his Covid-19 diagnosis. That goal is not imperiled by making student vaccinations truly voluntary. One reason is that all of the vaccines on offer have been approved only for “emergency use” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); that is, they are still experimental. Participants in a medical experiment should be volunteers, even in a public health crisis such as that presented by the coronavirus. COVID vaccines at Notre Dame Letter to the Editor | Tuesday, April 27, 2021 On April 7, Notre Dame’s President Fr. Is this a temporary situation or a permanent change? Indeed, especially then, because the pressures of the moment, shifting and almost always invariably incomplete data, and a certain panic could conspire to make even basic moral constraints seem dispensable. The study found that a Notre Dame outbreak which occurred at the beginning of the semester correlated with an increase in COVID-19 cases in St. Joseph County. The University of Notre Dame has confirmed more than 400 coronavirus cases among its campus community since August 3. Thousands of fans storming the field at Notre Dame as the US sets new Covid case records for the 4th straight day. Adjunct Professor of Law at the Notre Dame Law School and Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, IL, Professor of Law at the Notre Dame Law School. “All students” is also simply incompatible with F. Jenkins’ more considered statement of aims: “as many as possible.” Most important, any undertaking to exclude from campus every student who declines to be vaccinated — especially but not only those who already possess a natural immunity — would be immoral.Â. Notre Dame rose to … Like what you see? In other words, a community comprised of the frail elderly would have to achieve a much higher percentage of immune persons than would, say, a community comprised of several thousand college students, to achieve “herd immunity.” That latter percentage is quite possibly fewer than two-thirds. Notre Dame has always cherished its football independence, but the pandemic pushed it into the ACC. Any additional risk here. Box 779 / Notre Dame, IN 46556 Email: [email protected]. autonomous medical decisions should be respected. The Observer is a student-run, daily print & online newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary's & Holy Cross. They are the national leader in COVID-19 angst. The views expressed in this Letter to the Editor are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. These numbers are based only on tests conducted by University Health Services and the Wellness Center. This can be compared to the average infection rate in Indiana at 6.5% and the national average at the time 5.3%. Notre Dame has already shown that it can muster as many of those resources as it could possibly use. The question of Notre Dame’s academic and social future remains the hot topic of... To uncover the truth and report it accurately. Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in 'The Observer' on April 27, 2021 as a letter to the editor. So long as their refusal does not unfairly imperil others, these autonomous medical decisions should be respected. This principle of self-determination is especially salient in the present circumstance. Notre Dame has already shown that it can muster as many of those resources as it could possibly use. Help support student-run publications. We offer these considerations to aid the University’s deliberations about how it will go about achieving its stated goal to vaccinate “as many members of the campus community…as possible.” We know that Fr. The overall number of confirmed cases on campus since Aug. 3 is now at 372. Like what you see? Letters to the Editor can be submitted by all members of the Notre Dame community. In fact, for a low-risk person like the typical Notre Dame student, the chance of a severe reaction to the vaccine is several times higher than the chance of having one after contracting COVID. Over the course of the semester, 14.5% of Notre Dame students became infected with COVID-19, and the cumulative infection rate in St. Joseph County was 7.8%. As we begin the semester anew, we are excited to... To uncover the truth and report it accurately. “Instead, there was an increase.”. University of Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins announced that the University’s “goal for the fall semester will be to have as many members of the campus community vaccinated as possible, thereby reducing the risk of infection on campus and in the local community.” This is a laudable aim and we support it. “[P]ractical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.” This is the moral norm governing all medical treatment, as anyone eighteen or over who has been to the doctor well knows: it must be truly consensual. As the CDF “Note” said, those who “for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent.”. Many are entirely asymptomatic. In other words, a community comprised of the frail elderly would have to achieve a much higher percentage of immune persons than would, say, a community comprised of several thousand college students, to achieve “herd immunity.” That latter percentage is quite possibly fewer than two-thirds. Tracking COVID-19 at Notre Dame The Observer will update this page daily with new numbers from the University’s HERE Dashboard. But these statements must not have been meant literally, for they both refer explicitly to exempting students on religious and medical grounds from any vaccination requirement. Out of a study of 30 universities, Notre Dame was found to have the worst COVID-19 outbreak this fall, and the cases on campus demonstrated some correlation with cases in the wider South Bend community (as measured with a seven-day per 100,000 cases metric), according to a study published by Stanford … The unvaccinated thus pose no appreciable risk to those students who do choose to get vaccinated, for they (the vaccinated) would be protected by dint of their own choices. As the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) wrote in a “Note” which Pope Francis ordered to be published: “In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed.”Â. “There will be increased testing on campus during the spring semester, approximately 14,000 tests weekly,” Browne said. Any additional risk here should be regarded by both sets of people as negligible (certainly against the background of risks imposed and accepted — in many situations asymmetrically — by participating in sports, driving and other ordinary incidents of campus life).Â, The unvaccinated obviously put themselves at risk of contracting the disease and of then transmitting it to other unvaccinated people. Information and resources about creating a safe and healthy environment at the University of Notre Dame for students, faculty, and staff as the University prepares for the 2020-21 academic year in the rapidly evolving environment of a The Notre Dashboard, for example, reports no hospitalizations so far for COVID-19 pneumonia. So long as their refusal does not unfairly imperil others, these. Learn about us. 1, we have an exciting update. Observer Staff Report | Thursday, January 21, 2021, Out of a study of 30 universities, Notre Dame was found to have the worst COVID-19 outbreak this fall, and the cases on campus demonstrated some correlation with cases in the wider South Bend community (as measured with a seven-day per 100,000 cases metric), according to a study published by Stanford University professors Jan. 13.Â. On Friday, Notre Dame began hearing about its response to the COVID-19 outbreak on campus from its own student newspaper. Phone: (574) 631-7471 / Fax: (574) 631-6927 / Address: The Observer / P.O. Notre Dame confirmed 24 new COVID-19 infections Saturday, for a positivity rate of 11.8%. John Jenkins announced that the University’s “goal for the fall semester will be to have as many members of the campus community vaccinated as possible, thereby reducing the risk of infection … “No one will be able to begin classes in person until she or he tests negative.”. Fr. Box 779 / Notre Dame, IN 46556 Email: [email protected], Out of a study of 30 universities, Notre Dame was found to have the worst COVID-19 outbreak this fall, and the cases on campus demonstrated some correlation with cases in the wider South Bend community (as measured with a seven-day per 100,000 cases metric), according to a, Notre Dame’s decision to move classes online for two weeks appeared to contain the spread, but the results of the research suggest that, unlike Notre Dame, St. Joseph County struggled to decrease the spread in the following months, “, indicating that the initial outbreak at the University of Notre Dame had superspreading-like effects on its home county.”. The unvaccinated thus pose no appreciable risk to those students who do choose to get vaccinated, for they (the vaccinated) would be protected by dint of their own choices. The vaccines work principally by preventing anyone vaccinated from incurring serious illness, and death. An editorial by The Observer, which covers Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross, made its stance clear: “Don’t make us write obituaries.” Notre Dame’s decision to move classes online for two weeks appeared to contain the spread, but the results of the research suggest that unlike Notre Dame, St. Joseph County struggled to decrease the spread in the following months, “indicating that the initial outbreak at the University of Notre Dame had superspreading-like effects on its home county.”, However, the lack of contact tracing between Notre Dame students and St. Joseph County citizens prevents the August outbreak at Notre Dame from being characterized definitively as a super-spreader event, WSBT reported.Â, University spokesman Paul Browne said in a conversation with deputy health officer for St. Joseph County Dr. Mark Fox, Fox said “he couldn’t duplicate the report findings as they applied to St. Joseph County and Notre Dame.”Â, “On a separate occasion recently, Dr. Fox said that if Notre Dame was a super spreader, he would have expected to see a decline in the county after students left for their extended winter break,” Browne said in an email. It is reprinted here with permission. The student newspaper of Notre Dame, and Saint Mary's, and Holy Cross St. Joseph County rescinds mask order in light of new CDC guidelines // The Observer Per new Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations, St. Joseph County health officer Robert Einterz rescinded the county mask mandate Thursday … Isabella Volmert | The Observer A banner reading “Save Zahm” was hung from some of the dorm’s rooms shortly after the decision to close the dorm was announced mid-March. Observer Staff Report | Friday, May 7, 2021 University President Fr. The common good of our campus community would be fully served, moreover, if a sufficient number of students is either vaccinated or naturally immune, to obtain “herd immunity.” No one knows for sure what that percentage is for COVID, and it will vary depending upon the relevant population. Notre Dame will not be traveling to Wake Forest this weekend for the Duke’s Mayo Classic because of several positive COVID-19 tests among the Irish program in the past few days. “All students” is also simply incompatible with F. Jenkins’ more considered statement of aims: “as many as possible.” Most important, any undertaking to exclude from campus every student who declines to be vaccinated — especially but not only those who already possess a natural immunity — would be immoral.Â, How to talk to your friends who won’t get vaccinated, NDPD reports two off-campus armed robberies, In his letter to the editor, senior Weston Dell re, For the final games of the regular season, Notre D, New construction of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Ar, This year, recognize your Class of 2021 Graduate w, “This edition of From the Archives is all about. Twice as many COVID-19 cases, required testing and plans to … Jenkins meant by “documented.” A documented medical exemption could be a note from a doctor attesting to a student’s medical history of an adverse reaction to vaccines. It is based upon moral and scientific considerations equally available to all persons. Indeed, some and perhaps many Notre Dame students might judge that, although they would not be formally complicit in abortion if they were vaccinated, they nevertheless are called to give perspicuous witness to the truth about the horrors of abortion by avoiding even this sort of remote cooperation with it. Notre Dame should respect these students’ voluntary choices.Â, Doing so would not be unfair to others in the campus community. One reason is that all of the vaccines on offer have been approved only for “emergency use” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); that is, they are still experimental. The Observer is distributed in print across the three campuses and is funded by both advertising revenue and a campus fee paid by students attending Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, and Holy Cross College. What’s “possible” here rather has to do with moral constraints, especially the obligation to respect each person’s right to make their own healthcare decisions, to freely act upon their conscientious convictions and what is genuinely fair to everyone concerned.Â. “Let us all remind ourselves that we must be vigilant and committed to doing our part in following all health and safety guidelines to … Participants in a medical experiment should be volunteers, even in a public health crisis such as that presented by the coronavirus. Learn about us. The Associated Press and other news organizations and publishers will not have digital images from Saturday’s Notre Dame’s home game against Duke because of the school’s COVID-19 restrictions. To submit a letter to the Viewpoint Editor, email [email protected]. that the University’s “goal for the fall semester will be to have as many members of the campus community vaccinated as possible, thereby reducing the risk of infection on campus and in the local community.” This is a laudable aim and we support it. “Medical” objections would most obviously include anyone whose singular condition is a contraindication for the vaccine. The common good of our campus community would be fully served, moreover, if a sufficient number of students is either vaccinated or naturally immune, to obtain “herd immunity.” No one knows for sure what that percentage is for COVID, and it will vary depending upon the relevant population. Notre Dame said Sunday it had 408 confirmed cases in the last 20 days among the campus community in South Bend, Indiana. Disastrous. The University of Notre Dame was founded on November 26, 1842 by Father Edward Sorin, CSC, who was also its first president, as an all-male institution on land donated by the Bishop of Vincennes. These students’ choices to give such profound moral witness should be respected, and encouraged, at our Catholic university. The Observer is a student newspaper the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College and Holy Cross College. should be regarded by both sets of people as negligible (certainly against the background of risks imposed and accepted — in many situations asymmetrically — by participating in sports, driving and other ordinary incidents of campus life). They are naturally immune to the disease and have no need for the vaccine (No one knows for sure how long this natural immunity lasts, just as no one knows for sure how long the vaccine works). The “Note” concluded that, “when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available, it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.” Notre Dame’s announced “goal” builds upon this Church teaching. On April 7, Notre Dame’s President Fr. But these statements must not have been meant literally, for they both refer explicitly to exempting students on religious and medical grounds from any vaccination requirement. But all those at Notre Dame who decline the vaccine would understand, and accept, that risk.Â. Besides, several thousand Notre Dame students have already tested positive for the coronavirus. goal is not imperiled by making student vaccinations truly voluntary. We trust that Fr. A Catholic bishop who also teaches at the University of Notre Dame rebuked his fellow Catholic priest for the imposition of a COVID vaccine mandate on students. Jenkins on one occasion was quoted as saying that Notre Dame would require. These numbers are based only on tests conducted by University Health Services and the read more → — Kim Adams (@Kim_Adams1) November 8, 2020 The Observer is a student-run, daily print & online newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary's & Holy Cross. Of course, “as many…as possible” in this context is not a matter of available raw materials — needles, vaccines, medical personnel. However, the lack of contact tracing between Notre Dame students and St. Joseph County citizens prevents the August outbreak at Notre Dame from being characterized definitively as a super-spreader event, University spokesman Paul Browne said in a conversation with deputy health officer for St. Joseph County Dr. Mark Fox, Fox said “, he couldn’t duplicate the report findings as they applied to St. Joseph County and Notre Dame.”Â, How to talk to your friends who won’t get vaccinated, NDPD reports two off-campus armed robberies, In his letter to the editor, senior Weston Dell re, For the final games of the regular season, Notre D, New construction of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Ar, This year, recognize your Class of 2021 Graduate w, “This edition of From the Archives is all about, ‘Promising with a word of caution’: St. Joseph County deputy health officer, advisor to University weighs in on the semester’s future, University places restrictions on travel to Level 3 coronavirus areas, St. Joseph County resident tests positive for COVID-19, Students share varying experiences with testing procedures, contact tracing and quarantine criteria. Given that thousands of Notre Dame students already possess natural immunity, the number of vaccinations required to achieve “herd immunity” is certainly compatible with making vaccination truly voluntary. The student newspaper, the Observer, has also called for more data in the university's COVID-19 dashboard, including hospitalizations, recoveries, available quarantine and isolation spaces and demographics of students testing positive. Doing so would not be unfair to others in the campus community. Notre Dame COVID-19 outbreak demonstrates superspreader potential, study finds // The Observer Out of a study of 30 universities, Notre Dame was found to have the worst COVID-19 outbreak this fall, and the cases on campus demonstrated some correlation with cases in the wider South Bend community (as measured with a … This would be in accord with the teaching of Pope Francis, who has said, “The conscience is the interior place for listening to the truth, to goodness, for listening to God; it is the inner place of my relationship with Him, the One who speaks to my heart and helps me to discern, to understand the way I must take and, once the decision is made, to go forward, to stay faithful.”, We offer these considerations to aid the University’s deliberations about how it will go about achieving its stated goal to vaccinate “as many members of the campus community…as possible.” We know that Fr. Given that thousands of Notre Dame students already possess natural immunity, the number of vaccinations required to achieve “herd immunity” is certainly compatible with making vaccination truly voluntary. Tracking COVID-19 at Notre Dame Observer Staff Report | Saturday, August 15, 2020 The Observer will update this page daily with new numbers from the University’s HERE Dashboard. Indeed, especially then, because the pressures of the moment, shifting and almost always invariably incomplete data, and a certain panic could conspire to make even basic moral constraints seem dispensable. What’s “possible” here rather has to do with, constraints, especially the obligation to respect each person’s right to make their own healthcare decisions, to freely act upon their conscientious convictions and what is genuinely fair to everyone concerned.Â, ractical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.” This is the moral norm governing all medical treatment, as anyone eighteen or over who has been to the doctor well knows: it must be truly. Rightly understood, however, it would include as well all those persons who conscientiously judge that it would better serve their health to refuse the vaccine. Letter to the Editor | Tuesday, April 27, 2021, On April 7, Notre Dame’s President Fr.  Notre Dame announced Thursday new plans to attempt to decrease the spread of COVID-19 on campus this spring, including weekly surveillance testing for all students and harsher discipline for students who do not abide by health and safety protocols. Jenkins and the whole leadership of Notre Dame will act for the genuine common good of our community, in light of the relevant scientific truths and in light of all the relevant moral norms, including those brought to bear upon his decisions by order of Pope Francis. The CDF concluded that persons may — not must — get vaccinated. Today, many Holy Cross priests continue to work for the university, including as its president. A religious, moral or other exemption of conscience should be ascertained not by documents, but by a simple conversation seeking only to establish that the individual has a sincerely held, reasonable belief that they should not receive the vaccine. It could also be some written form (“document”) whereby any student returning to campus in August who is unvaccinated says so. Welcome home, once again. For Notre Dame fans waiting for decades for the school to get back to No.

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