To Be or Not To Be….Vaccinated

LHS Student Opinions on Covid-19 Vaccines

To+Be+or+Not+To+Be....Vaccinated

Giuliana Barberio, Staff Writer

The topic about Covid-19 vaccines is pretty controversial. So far 32.3% of the country have been vaccinated which is pretty surprising if you think about it. Not even half of the country has been vaccinated.  Do you ever wonder what their reasons are? Some people are certain the vaccine will help get everything back to normal and some people disagree. Others may simply not be eligible to be vaccinated yet to do being under age.

In an effort to learn the reasons behind someone’s thought process between those pro-vaccine and those anti-vaccine, The Charles Street Times interviewed two pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine believers from the Lindenhurst High school to see why they choose to be or not to be vaccinated.

Two pro-vaccine high school sophomores interviewed were Chloe Hendrickson and Juliona Bacalles. Chloe was super cautious during the whole of the pandemic and didn’t see anyone for what felt like months. She slowly started going out to public places with her family but being vaccinated will make her feel safer. “I want to be vaccinated so I can feel safer about going to different places. During the whole pandemic I was very nervous about going to restaurants or places where my mask doesn’t have to be worn the whole time. So being vaccinated will make me feel safer when doing so.” 

Chloe and Juliona were asked about whether they believe those who don’t want to be vaccinated are in the wrong.  Juliona told CST in an interview, “I think people who don’t want to be vaccinated don’t have poor judgment, they are just scared and maybe aren’t too clear about the vaccine as a whole. Some people are scared because it’s new but it has actually been around for a decade considering it is an mRNA vaccine altered to COVID.”  Both Chloe and Juliona see a world of no masks and having the liberty of going back to normal again once everyone is vaccinated.

Two anti-vaccine high school sophomores interviewed were Frankie Dennehy and another high school student who has asked to remain anonymous. Frankie and the other 10th grade student feel as though the vaccine was rushed and didn’t have enough time to be thoroughly tested for all precautions. “The vaccine hasn’t been around for that long so I want to make sure there are no like side effects from it and I just want to make sure it is safe,”  stated the anonymous student during their interview. Topics like Covid-19 and the vaccine can cause some disagreement between people who believe people should be vaccinated and those who believe they don’t. But Frankie made it clear that she has the right to have their own opinion. “Not at all, that’s completely their decision. I wouldn’t judge someone for wanting it or getting it.”

Both Frankie and the anonymous sophomore believe that once everyone is vaccinated in the future the vaccine will almost turn into flu vaccine; therefore, everyone will have a choice if they want get the shot that year as you do when the doctor asks if you want to get the flu shot.