Texas and Utah Bar Public Colleges From Requiring Covid-19 Vaccines

As a small but growing number of colleges announce that they’ll require students to get a Covid-19 vaccine, two state governments have prohibited their public colleges from doing so.

Utah legislators enacted a law forbidding government agencies — including public colleges — to require people to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Private businesses and colleges may still have vaccine mandates. The law drew nearly unanimous approval from legislators, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Gov. Spencer Cox signed it in March.

Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed an executive order that also prevents public colleges from requiring a Covid shot.

Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, issued an executive order that banned businesses from “requiring patrons or customers” to show proof of immunization on the same day that Nova Southeastern University, a private institution in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., announced it would require Covid-19 shots, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Nova Southeastern’s president, George Hanbury, told The New York Times that the order had caught the university off guard and administrators were reviewing it.

Abbott, Cox, and DeSantis are all Republicans.