To the Board of Directors of the “Grigore T. Popa “ University of Medicine and Pharmachy , Iasi
Dear professors,
We hereby express our disagreement with the possibility of adopting a decision of the Board of Directors by which the examination of the summer session of the academic year 2020-2021 is conditioned by the presentation of a vaccination certificate or a negative RT-PCR test / certificate attesting the antecedents of COVID-19 infection. The discussion launched is not for or against vaccination, but concerns the abusive, unconstitutional and unjust way of trying to force the students of the “Gr. T. Popa ”University of Medicine and Pharmacy , Iasi to be vaccinated in order to take the exams during the summer session. According to official sources, in Romania, vaccination against COVID-19 is voluntary / optional and, like any other medical act, is assumed by the person concerned. We consider that the approval of such a decision, which goes beyond the students' will of not to be vaccinated, violates the freedom of choice and turns vaccination into an obligation / constraint of certain rights and freedoms. The proposed alternative (presenting a negative RT-PCR test before each exam) is not fair and equal as certain students will find themselves under financial, physical, mental and emotional stress. We mention that in this context the expression “the minority submits to the majority” cannot be applied, as we are talking about decisions taken “on the individual”, specifying that we are talking about a relevant medical and constitutional act. We emphasize the idea that it is up to the decision-makers, whether or not to introduce this measure: to make the vaccination certificate / certificate mandatory, or to present the negative RT-PCR test during the exams session, reiterating that, if the vaccine is free and not compulsory, the latter measure must be similar, namely, to be supported financially, mentally and morally, in full, until the end of the pandemic, by the State. Only in this way can we achieve that “non-compulsory” which the Government and the Constitution guarantee. According to Law No 46 from 21st of January 2003, Chapter 1, Article 1: a) “patient means a healthy or a sick person who uses health services.” Consequently, any person is automatically classified as a patient, having thus the possibility of refusing a medical act under Article 13 of Chapter 2 of this law. We mention the article: “The patient has the right to refuse or to stop a medical intervention by assuming, in writing, the responsibility for his decision; the consequences of refusing or stopping medical acts must be explained to the patient.” Therefore, every person has the right to refuse any medical act, without restricting his fundamental rights (eg. The right to Education). At the same time, according to Article 1, b) “discrimination means any distinction made between persons in similar situations on the basis of race, sex, age, ethnicity, national or social origin, religion, political option or personal antipathy.” Any student who refuses the medical act for various reasons, taking into account that vaccination against COVID-19 is not mandatory, and does not afford to pay for RT-PCR tests, cannot be discriminated against by his or her removal from the activities to which his or her colleagues who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 have the right to be part of, and, also he or she cannot be ostracised by society and the institution to which he or she belongs. Moreover, they (n.r. students) cannot be hindered from carrying out the activities necessary for their academic development, such as participating in internships, courses and exams, because this would go beyond the legal framework existing in Romania. The implementation of such a decision constitutes discriminatory action against a considerable number of students. We bring to your attention ORDER no. 3,666 of March 30, 2012, on the approval of the Code of Students’ Rights and Obligations issued by the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports3, where Article 9 stipulates that “Political propaganda and any form of individual or group discrimination are prohibited within higher education institutions. ”, corroborated with article 11, letter r – “the right to an objective and non-discriminatory evaluation of competences acquired after completing a course, in compliance with the syllabus, and the right to know the scale according to which the assessment was made”. To these are added the Regulation of Undergraduate Studies, edition 1, revision 2, article 4 of the chapter “General principles” which advocates “the prevention of exclusivism, intolerance and discrimination of any kind”. The adoption of such a decision (n.r. conditioning the presentation of a vaccination certificate / negative RT-PCR test / certificate) by the management of UMF Iași violates its own operating regulations, but also the laws issued by the Romanian state. We must take into account the existence of certain disadvantaged categories of students: those who have a precarious financial situation and cannot afford to perform RT-PCR tests with their own funds, those who have certain conditions that have not yet been included in studies on the safety of the anti- COVID-19 vaccination, but also students undergoing certain long-term treatments. In addition, the existence of psychological pressure on those who do not want to be vaccinated for various reasons can be an impediment to the normal conduct of their study and examination work. Similar situations were reported by the People's Advocate who stated in the public space, repeatedly (March, May 2021) regarding the conditioning of jobs by some employers: “I had a correspondence with the Ministry of Health who answered us very firmly that, as long as the vaccination strategy emphasizes that vaccination is not mandatory, then the dismissal of some people or their non-acceptance is beyond the existing legal framework in Romania. Every person who feels that their rights have been violated in this way, will have to challenge such decisions in court, if indeed the employers want to implement them. And I still think it's good to convince people to get vaccinated, but we can't stop others from living a life and working, as is natural. “ Taking into account the arguments developed above and supported by the cited sources, including legal ones, we believe that our appeal against this decision is pertinent and justified. Holding the session in compliance with all the protection measures recommended by the WHO and the Romanian Government (correct wearing of the mask, use of disinfectant, keeping a minimum distance of 1.5 m between people) proved to be the best way to manage the situation, as following the session In winter, there was no increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 infection among UMF Iasi students. As the teaching activity for two semesters in the hybrid system was a success, we believe that taking the exams that involve the presence in the same room of a much smaller number of people can be done without additional risks. All the students thank you for your understanding!