Editor’s Note: This article first appeared as part of the August 23 flipbook.

A recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found the majority of Americans support requiring vaccines for bar or restaurant visits. Many UT students share the same sentiment despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on vaccine passports.

While Texas does not appear to be moving toward requiring vaccination for day-to-day events, some students said they want to recover their vaccine cards to provide proof of having received a COVID-19 vaccine. Many students who lost their vaccine cards say they have received new ones from the University without difficulty.

Students who have misplaced their vaccine cards and were vaccinated through University Health Services can log into their Athena Patient Portal through the UT Health website and recover vaccination records online, UHS spokesperson Susan Hochman said.

Jannel Hayden, a human development and family sciences junior, said she lost her vaccine card when she was cleaning out her car and threw it out by mistake. She is now in the process of recovering it. Hayden said she wishes UT would require COVID-19 vaccination and is concerned about returning to in-person classes given the prevalence of COVID-19 in Austin.

“I feel like UT isn’t taking all the precautions that we need them to take, especially with other schools requiring vaccines,” Hayden said. “I really think UT should take that step too, even with Abbott’s orders. … I think it’d be great, as a prestigious research University, for us to follow science.”

Mmesoma Igbelina,a  human development and family sciences junior, said she believes a COVID-19 vaccination mandate is a necessity. Igbelina said she wanted to recover her vaccine card after she lost track of it so she could keep a complete personal medical record.

“I remember submitting my previous vaccine forms before my freshman year, what’s so different about this?” Igbelina said. “I feel the University should require students to get the vaccine and at the very least require masks … especially with the new and worse delta variant.”