How do BHS seniors feel about the COVID-19 vaccine?
On May 1, seniors older than 18 will be eligible to be vaccinated
President Joe Biden recently announced that the COVID-19 vaccine will be available for all Americans who are over the age of 18 on May 1, 2021. This means that on May 1, many BHS seniors will be eligible to get vaccinated.
In February of 2021, a study was conducted about if adults in the U.S. are planning on getting a COVID-19 vaccine. A majority of 69% said that they will, and 30% said that they will not. But the opinions of the young adults in our community may be different.
BHS seniors are divided on whether or not they think it’s safe. According to a survey sent to randomly selected BHS seniors, almost half of the eligible high school students do not think that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe. A reason for this may be the reported side effects of the vaccine. According to the CDC, the common possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine include tiredness, headaches, muscle pain, chills, fever, and nausea.
Many Americans also hold unconfirmed theories spread on social media about other potential long-term side effects such as infertility. Some other more extreme conspiracies include that the vaccine contains a microchip, the vaccine will alter your DNA, etc. Although none of these theories have been proven, many Americans still fear that the vaccine is unsafe, including half of the students who took our survey, saying that they don’t think the side effects of the vaccine are worth it.
Although the vaccine will be available to all American adults on May 1, not everyone is planning on getting it right away. According to our survey, 43% of BHS seniors don’t plan on getting the vaccine as soon as possible. Some saying that they plan on waiting for other adults to get it first, and others saying that they don’t plan on ever getting it.
“I want to see how it plays out before I trust it,” senior Clare Vander Kooi said.
She doesn’t plan on getting the vaccine immediately and although she thinks that it is okay for her peers to get vaccinated, she also thinks that healthy high school students shouldn’t be the top priority.
Students under the age of 18 who want to be vaccinated might also be able to do so as soon as September 2021 according to Dr. Anthony Fauci. He hopes to be able to vaccine kids as young as first grade at the beginning of next school year.
