Public Prepares for COVID-19 Vaccine Availability

The light at the end of this COVID-19 tunnel has emerged: the approval of a vaccine for this deadly disease.

Companies such as Pfizer and Moderna each have released their own vaccines, both seeking FDA approval, so that they can deliver vaccines into the United States.

In the United Kingdom, the process of getting the vaccine to the public has already been started.

The medical company Pfizer let the UK buy the vaccine and administer it to their population.

The current plan is to vaccinate the elderly, health care workers and the higher risk population first.

The United States has a similar plan with Pfizer starting to ship out around 15 million vaccines to America in the upcoming weeks.

The public focus has shifted to when they can obtain a vaccine and if the vaccine is actually safe and trustworthy.

Getting the vaccine actually shipped out and administered may be a challenge for the country. A northeastern snow storm that will delay the shipment of vaccinations to the northeast.

High School chemistry teacher Jeremey Sechrist, who has been with the school for 4 years, has multiple views on the COVID-19 vaccine.

For Sechrist, basic information about the vaccine has been easy to understand.

“I know that multiple large pharmaceutical companies have produced vaccines and have reported high success rates,” said Sechrist. “I also know that the FDA is currently examining the vaccines to see if they’re safe to be given to the public.”

Concerning whether he plans to receive the vaccine, Sechrist has a bit of a split perspective.

“I would get the vaccine, but not right away,” said Sechrist. “I don’t totally trust the COVID-19 vaccines right now because the companies developing them have rushed the typical process of developing the vaccines. Rushing medical advancements, like COVID-19 testing, has led to mistakes throughout the pandemic… that being said, if doctors around the country start approving of and trust one of the vaccines enough to give it to their patients, I’ll feel more confident and will get the vaccine.”

Junior Atticus Silbaugh decided to go fully online this year and learn in his classes synchronously.

For Silbaugh, the choice of to vaccine or not to vaccine is an easy one.

“If any actual group clears a vaccine, like the CDC, then I would 100 percent use it,” said Silbaugh.

Silbaugh, a type one diabetic, is not too worried with any potential side effects that could affect him or his family.

“I am not too worried about the side effects, as any side effect will be better than actually getting COVID-19,” said Silbaugh.

Junior Brandon Bontoyan decided to go with the hybrid school schedule for this year, being in person for classes two days a week, so a vaccine is key for him.

“I want to help protect myself and others and want to get things back to normal as soon as possible,” Bontoyan said.

However, he does not know the safety of the vaccine.

“This is the first type of vaccine like this and we haven’t been testing it for long enough,” said Bontoyan. “We are also not sure about the potential side effects that could go along with the vaccine.”