St. Catharines university extending mandates beyond school’s end

There will be no upcoming cut-offs of safety mandates at the Brock University campuses in St. Catharines and Thorold.

The university announced yesterday (March 31) that their strict COVID-19 vaccination policy and the use of masks will continue through the Winter Term, meaning to the end of the school year.

While the Province eased its face mask restrictions in mid-March, the university said they would be carrying them on but never initially said for how long. That question has now been answered.

“Brock’s top priority remains the health and well-being of the campus community,” says Lynn Wells, Interim President and Vice-Chancellor.

“Public health measures such as vaccine mandates and wearing a mask when indoors allowed for a successful and safe return to campus in the fall, and we’ll continue to rely on these measures beyond the Winter Term as we assess the public health situation in the region and across the province.”

One public official was clearly happy with the announcement. Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagara Region’s Acting Medical Officer of Health, has been pushing businesses and other facilities open to the public to continue masking, saying COVID-19 is just now hitting its Sixth Wave, meaning it’s too soon to drop safety measures.

“I applaud Brock University for its leadership maintaining masking requirements and vaccination policies,” said Hirji.

“These measures will continue to protect students, staff and visitors. Niagara and Ontario are now into the early parts of a sixth wave of COVID-19; locally, we have seen a two-and-a-half-fold increase in persons hospitalized for COVID-19 in the last couple of weeks, and unfortunately may see more hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks.”

Hirji added that the actions Brock University is taking will allow the important activities on campus to continue unimpeded “while maintaining a level of safety that everyone has enjoyed this past academic year.”

He added he would like others take heed of Brock’s safety precautions. “I hope Brock University can serve as a role model for other organizations in maintaining masking requirements and vaccination policies as we experience the current surge of infections.”