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Vaccination rates at historically Black public colleges and universities in Maryland lag compared to other institutions in the state's public university system, reported WYPR, the NPR station serving the Baltimore metropolitan area.
Joann Boughman, University System of Maryland senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, told state lawmakers about the disparity on Thursday during a briefing on higher education, according to Maryland Matters.
While most of the 12 institutions in the University System of Maryland show high compliance with the system-wide vaccine mandate, the system's three HBCUs -- Bowie State University, Coppin State University, and University of Maryland Eastern Shore -- have compliance rates ranging from the high 60s to about 86 percent, Boughman said at the briefing. The majority of the system's universities have vaccination rates between 94 and 98 percent.
For example, data from Bowie State University, an HBCU in Prince George's County, shows 92 percent of staff, 88 percent of faculty, and 66 percent of students have gotten their vaccines. In contrast, University of Maryland, College Park, reported 97.7 percent of staff, faculty, and students are vaccinated.
Boughman told state legislators that some new employees and newly enrolled students had yet to get vaccinated, though some institutions have time remaining before their vaccine deadlines. She also noted that Maryland's public HBCUs continue to offer vaccine clinics on campus and promote vaccines.
"We know there's not only vaccine hesitancy in some of our populations and communities, but real challenges in terms of access for some people over the summer," she said.
