2 Students Are Preparing to Sue Seneca College Over Its COVID-19 Vaccine Policy

Seneca College students Mariana Costa and Crystal Love are reportedly preparing to sue their college over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

In a press release, Seneca College announced that students and staff will need to be vaccinated to return to campus on September 7, 2021. However, the college also stated that it would be accepting medical exemptions.

After receiving this notice, "the Justice Centre wrote a letter on behalf of Ms. Costa and Ms. Love in July, advising the College that if it did not lift the vaccine requirement for the two students, legal action would commence. Those letters never received a response," reads the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms press release.

Students who chose not to get vaccinated have the option of virtual learning, but both Costa and Love say they can't "fully complete their programs online, which will leave them struggling to deal with student loan payments in the long-term as it will take them longer to earn income to begin to pay them back," according to the press release.

Costa is currently in a three-year fashion arts program and Love is attending a two-year veterinary technician program.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms will be representing the two students and say they are currently preparing a lawsuit.

Justice Centre Staff Lawyer Allison Pejovic says, "The Justice Centre is preparing a lawsuit against Seneca College on behalf of these students, and intends to aggressively defend their Charter rights. Seneca's policy is not only unconstitutional, but also not science or evidence-based, as the CDC has admitted that fully vaccinated people with breakthrough infections carry high viral loads and can spread the disease to others."

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says, "infections happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant. When these infections occur among vaccinated people, they tend to be mild."

Fully vaccinated people can become infected and spread the virus. "However, the risk of infection remains much higher for unvaccinated than vaccinated people. Vaccines remain effective in protecting most people from COVID-19 infection and its complications," according to the CDC website.

Health Canada has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.