AG Landry Says LSU Mandating COVID Vaccinations Is Illegal

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced yesterday that he believes requiring students and staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to LSU campuses is illegal.

Landry sent a letter to Interim LSU President Thomas Galligan saying the university should require neither students nor teachers to be vaccinated before returning to campus. Read the full letter here.

He argued that many people are concerned about the long-term effects of the vaccines. Landry went on to say many people also hold religious views that prevent them from getting vaccines in general or taking those made by aborted fetal cell lines.

Landry also said students and staff are protected from being required to have the COVID-19 vaccines by 21U.S.C. §360bbb-3. He also cited Louisiana law that requires postsecondary institutions to recognize any religious or nonreligious beliefs as exemptions to vaccine mandates.

Currently, LSU is not requiring students and staff be vaccinated to return to campus. However, the subject is very alive. Many members of the LSU faculty have demanded the university require students to be vaccinated.

As it stands right now, the LSU administration says that since the vaccines were only approved by the federal government under emergency use, the university can't legally mandate people have to be vaccinated to return.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have requested full authorization of their vaccines from the FDA. There’s no timeline on when decisions will be made.