Photo courtesy BBC News
As the pandemic continues with no end in sight, government agencies have been slowly rolling out the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to frontline essential workers and people over the age of 65. In the coming months, we can expect to see the implementation of vaccines among other age groups as we surge for herd immunity against this deadly virus.
Although the vaccine is said to be 95% effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, many people are still skeptical about the vaccination.
Millions of people have been infected severely by the virus, especially people at high risk such as the elderly or anyone with pre-existing conditions. As COVID-19 hits home for many of our loved ones, seeing family members fight the virus firsthand can take a toll on what personal reasons one could have for debating the vaccine.
Senior FAMU student Ashley Foster has seen part of her family take the first steps to COVID protection, and she plans to follow suit.
“I’m definitely taking the vaccine. My grandmother just recently received her second dose of the vaccine with no problem almost two weeks ago. I feel like the risk of contracting COVID-19 outweighs anything that could arise from just taking the vaccine,” Foster said.
With very few side effects such as pain, swelling, headache and chills, healthcare officials report this as normal and say it will go away shortly following the vaccination. Some believe that the second dose of the vaccine is still loosely underway to the public.
A fourth-year FAMU student, Naiola Francois, has ultimately decided to not take the vaccine unless required or deemed necessary.
“Me personally, I’m not considering the vaccine unless it becomes mandated by work or travel, especially being that I work from home anyway. I want to see more of the overall effects firsthand for a while before I even begin rethinking of getting the vaccine. I’m just really waiting it out a while since it’s all so new to everyone and we have new strains popping up already,” Francois said.
Even with notable doubts, some people are on board with the idea of finally having a vaccine that cold lead to a return to our pre-pandemic “normal” lives.
FAMU theater major Kristine Wallace says the vaccine will allow us to return to ordinary life as we know it.
“I am considering the vaccine because I want to return to life outside the pandemic. Our lives are surrounded by virus now and I see the elimination of disease as a plus in relation to how many lives we have already lost to the virus. I think people believe this can’t happen because we’re now stuck experiencing life that is different from before. The idea of being back to normal might seem too far fetched to others now,” Wallace said.