Wofford’s herd immunity threatened by local schools

On Sept. 23, 2021, the Washington Post released a map showcasing COVID-19 hospitalization rates throughout the US. Spartanburg County received the rating of low vaccination and high hospitalization. Wofford students and Spartanburg County citizens may be surprised to find out that the county had the highest hospitalization rate in the country, at 38 patients per 100 beds.

Spartanburg County is the fifth most populated county in the state and, since the pandemic began, has also had the fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases and the second-highest amount of COVID-19 related deaths of any county in the state.

The high hospitalization rate may correlate to the county’s vaccination rate, which is No. 35 of South Carolina’s 46 counties. The county stands, as of Oct. 5, with 43% of the population having one or more vaccination shots. Comparatively, the state as a whole has an almost 56% vaccination rate, as of Oct. 5.

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System has released their COVID-19 statistics on how many patients with the virus have been hospitalized, put into the ICU and put onto ventilators. As of Oct. 5, of the 171 patients hospitalized, 24 (~14%) were vaccinated. Of the 42 patients in the intensive care unit, 2 (~5%)  were vaccinated and of the 27 patients on ventilators, none were vaccinated. 

Though Wofford has achieved an approximate 90% vaccination rate among students and facilities, a concern for COVID-19 still exists on campus. While this vaccination rate may indicate the campus itself has reached herd immunity, it could be concerning that unvaccinated people may be attending on-campus events, lowering the chances of the event attendees reaching herd immunity.

Roberta Hurley, vice president and dean of students, released a statement for Wofford organizations on this concern stating: “Please do not encourage students to come to Wofford from other local institutions on social media … One of the main reasons the Greek Village is open is because of the vaccination rates of our student population. The rates at our neighboring institutions are not nearly as high as Wofford’s. So, please try to keep your events as Wofford-centric as possible.”

Compared with Wofford’s near 90% vaccination rate and 3 active cases among all students and faculty (as of Oct. 6), Hurley’s comments seem to be true; local colleges have not kept up with Wofford. As of Sept. 30, 2021, Wofford and Furman University are the only two colleges/universities in the state to require students, without a relevant excuse, to get COVID-19 vaccinations. 

Other colleges in Spartanburg only require students to submit their vaccination records if they get vaccinated. Without mandates, these schools have lower vaccination rates; Converse, for example, has a rate of just below 60% as of Oct. 1. 

Students from USC Upstate, Converse University, Spartanburg Methodist College and Spartanburg Community College cause worry on campus, as Wofford administration can not be sure whether they are vaccinated or not. Because neither vaccination nor active case information is known publicly for these schools, it would be impossible to know which outside students to let in or not if there were to be a check-in desk at events.

Though Greek Life events are supposed to have a check-in, there have been rumors of students avoiding these checkpoints, adding to concerns that some students and administration have about non-Wofford students’ attendance at on-campus events.