McMaster University and the University of Waterloo announced that, unlike U of T and Western University, they would not have a vaccine mandate for the fall semester.

“Health and safety continue to be a top priority in our planning as we head towards the fall term. We have continued to follow the latest COVID-19 safety guidance from public health and the Ontario government. McMaster faculty, who are experts in virology and other health fields, also help to guide our decisions. All have indicated that the right course given the current circumstances is to continue to pause the vaccine mandate and to strongly encourage masking. We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” a McMaster University update reads.

However, while McMaster is not forcing students to get jabbed, faculty aren’t so lucky.

“While our vaccination mandate continues to be paused, we encourage students, faculty and staff to keep up to date with their COVID vaccinations. MacCheck now offers the ability to upload proof of vaccination documentation for up to four doses,” the update continues.

“New hires must continue to provide proof of vaccination or seek and obtain an approved human rights-based exemption.”

The university also “strongly encourages” masks.

In other mandate news, the University of Waterloo has also decided against more mask and vaccine mandates.

“We’re conscious of the environment, generally that we’re in right now,” Nick Manning, the associate vice-president of communications, said. “There aren’t public health requirements in general, in public, right now for mask wearing. We want to be mindful of the situation that the rest of the province is in.”

Conversely, as reported, the University of Toronto and Western University have both mandated a booster dose for continued attendance at their institutions.

Following the announcement, several Western University students spoke to the student advocacy group Students4Agency about the return of the vaccine mandate and why it shouldn’t be reimplemented.

All four of these universities are mere hours away from one another and in a province wherein the Chief Medical Officer has stated that young, healthy adults should consider the risk of myocarditis before getting further vaccinated.

This serves to highlight the contentious nature of mandates and a shift away from radical responses to COVID from some institutions.