Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) was inaccurately telling students in its health science program that they needed to receive a COVID vaccine or lose their place in the program, despite the state ending the COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in 2023.
The policy remained in place until Thursday when the parent of a student, who asked not to be named, reached out to school officials with concerns.
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“The state has removed religious and philosophical exemptions so you are choosing to mandate this controversial vaccine for students to access your ‘free’ education. This ‘free’ education comes with a price tag of a loss personal choice and religious freedom,” said a concerned parent while reaching out to school officials.
“It is time to reassess this policy to mandate the COVID vaccine for health science students,” she added.
The concerned parent reached out to The Maine Wire, saying that the school wanted to require her daughter to receive a COVID vaccine before she could participate in clinical classes.
The parent said that students were required to use a third-party software program, Castle Branch, which cost students $130 to use, to submit their immunization records before they would be allowed to participate in the program.
She provided The Maine Wire with multiple forms of documentation, along with communications with school officials, proving that they were indeed requiring the COVID vaccine.
“Please pay attention to this – students have lost their position in the
program for not getting these requirements uploaded in time,” said the school in a messsage to the student reviewed by The Maine Wire.
The parent, who was aware that COVID vaccines were no longer mandated for health care workers in Maine hospitals, questioned why they would be mandated for students taking clinical classes in those same hospitals.
The school’s official COVID-19 page specifies that, while the vaccine is not required for the school itself, it may be required at third-party locations.
When the parent first reached out on Thursday, Lisa Dittrich, the director of the school’s cardiovascular technology program, appeared to reaffirm the vaccine mandate but said that she would look into the situation further.
“Thank you for your inquiry. Let me check again to be sure. As you know, this has been a moving target since 2020. The Covid booster mandate was scratched off this list a couple years back but the original vaccine mandate was upheld for all Health Science students with patient-facing clinical time. This is not our rule – it is fully mandated by the sites themselves,” said Dittrich.
“I will make some inquiries and get back with you with an answer as soon as I receive one,” she added
Shortly thereafter, Dittrich responded to the parent and acknowledged that the COVID vaccine was actually not required for clinical education. She also said that, as of Thursday afternoon, she was working to update their files to reflect the lack of a COVID requirement.
“Covid vaccine is no longer required. I am already in the process of updating everything I have on file,” she said.
Dittrich did not respond to the parent’s questions about how such a significant oversight could have been made.
Questions remain about how many, if any, students decided to obtain the vaccine after being inaccurately told it was required.
Just teaching science in Maine! The health care Department neads a science lesson as well as a political lesson. Democratic BS
I never took the vax, and never got COVID.