With the state of emergency, the doors of Riga Stradiņš University are closed and studies continue remotely. Therefore, the unvaccinated students are also able to participate for the time being. At the moment, six students have dropped out as a result of their reluctance to vaccinate.
“We understand, of course, that Covid-19 has affected more than six people, but we are pleased to find there is no significant drop-off because of the requirement for vaccination,” said RSU Health Studies Prorector Guntis Bahs.
Latvian Television spoke to a student of physical therapy, Arturs Zvaigzne, who has taken academic leave due to the situation.
“I am a young man, my immunity is strong, and I do not believe I should be vaccinated right now. I want to continue to learn. This is clear. It's my goal to finish university but I made this choice right now,” says Arturs. “I will look at what the future situation will be, and hope that something will change and there will be an opportunity to attend on-site learning for people who are not vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, at the University of Latvia (LU), looking at the period from August to the end of October in the last four years, it appears that this year the number of students dropping out is higher than in other years. The exact number of how many people have chosen to stop their studies due to vaccination was not revealed, but there are separate cases.
