A vial of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The first doses of the vaccine at Ohio State were administered March 2, 2021. Credit: Owen Milnes | Lantern File Photo

While reminders of the pandemic still live through many 6-feet-apart signs and excess hand sanitizer in classrooms, policies toward COVID-19 have largely disappeared.

Ohio State announced on April 24 that COVID-19 vaccinations will no longer be required for all students, faculty and non-hospital staff due to the expiration of the federal public health emergency, which is set to end Thursday. The mandate removal comes in response to an update in the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization of COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to a university statement, the mandate’s end applies to everyone except those subject to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or other professional requirements

“All campus community members are strongly encouraged to stay up to date on vaccinations as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the statement said. 

The vaccine mandate was originally put in place in October 2021 following the full FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a previous Lantern article. 

On April 18, 2023, the FDA authorized changes to simplify the use of Bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, amending emergency use. 

“The monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States,” the FDA said. 

The removal of authorization for monovalent vaccines — vaccines that contain only one strain of the virus — was accompanied by the authorization of current bivalent vaccines — vaccines that contain two strains of the virus — for those 6 months of age or older, according to the FDA. 

“Most individuals who have already received a single dose of the bivalent vaccine are not currently eligible for another dose,” the FDA said. “The FDA intends to make decisions about future vaccination after receiving recommendations on the fall strain composition at an FDA advisory committee in June.” 

On Jan. 30, the Biden administration announced it would end the public health emergency on May 11. According to a White House press release posted on May 1, COVID-19 vaccine requirements would also end that day.

“Today, we are announcing that the Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for [f]ederal employees, [f]ederal contractors and international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends,” the release said.

According to the CDC’s website, tools including vaccines, treatments and testing will remain available, but the CDC’s ability to collect and share certain data will change, due to the ending of the emergency. 

“While reporting frequency and source data for some metrics will shift when the [public health emergency] declaration ends, CDC will continue to report valuable data to inform individual and community public health actions to protect those at highest risk of severe COVID-19,” the CDC said. “Our priority remains providing the information necessary to protect the nation’s public health.”