COVID-19 has been a part of everybody’s life for almost a year now, but that might soon change. With over 50% of US adults being vaccinated the end of masks and the beginning of seeing friends again might soon be in our future. The vaccine is now available in many states to people 16 and older and with many students being in that age range, how do students feel about vaccines?

“I’m happy that the vaccine is getting rolled out. If I get it I’m going to be able to see my grandparents again”, Paige Barkley (’23) said.

The vaccine can be seen as a source of relief by many, putting an end to masks and lockdowns. Of course, with the end of lockdowns that means visiting friends and family again and being able to talk and have fun with each other. Many families couldn’t see loved ones due to the risk of getting them infected with COVID-19. Vaccines are a chance for families to reunite and get to spend quality time with each other again, which I think we can all agree, is a very good reason to get the vaccine.

“I wish I could get it just like I go into get my flu shot,” Eithne Curless (’22) said.

Curless might be speaking for a lot of us when she says that having people covered head to toe in protective gear can be scary for some, although the gear is very important for the doctors to safely administer vaccines without the risk of getting the disease themselves. Normalizing the vaccine is very important for people to feel comfortable getting a vaccine. It takes off a lot of stress if you can simply go get it administered just like anything else without having to jump through so many hoops and hurdles.

Another reason people may get the vaccine is that they do not want to feel liable for getting anyone sick or making others feel uncomfortable around them.

“I feel it’s my duty to protect others and not put them at risk if I can do something about it,” Rachel Baker (’21) said.

I do not think anybody would want to go to sleep at night knowing that they got someone sick because they did not want to get the vaccine. I know I could not if I got someone I loved sick and saw them struggling to breathe so to me, like many others, it is very important that I get the vaccine as soon as possible. On a scale of 1 to 10 1 being not very important and 10 being very important 80% students ranked getting a vaccine as a 7 or higher. That shows that many here feel vaccines are a must-have to get on with normal life.

Vaccines are a necessity if humanity is ever going to get on with a “normal” lifestyle again. With many students feeling that getting a vaccine is a good thing, it seems that getting back to that normal might be sooner rather than later. Only time will tell though if we can get rid of COVID-19 altogether. However, getting a vaccine is a very good step towards getting completely rid of COVID-19.