The pandemic of COVID-19 has changed almost everyone’s lives in our world today. From deciding to get the vaccine or not, it sure has added a lot of mixed emotions to students at Yutan High School. 

Students might be getting the vaccine nowadays for less stress in their daily lives. 

“I just thought it would simplify things for myself. I won’t have to worry about other things, like making sure I have a mask on me, stuff like that,” senior Isaiah Daniell said. 

The vaccine has helped people be able to see their family members that they haven’t been able to see in a large amount of time due to the virus. It is slowly bringing families back together.

“I had to get the vaccine in order to go see my grandma,” junior Kennedy Andrews said. 

Travel has also motivated some people to get vaccinated because they are excited to get out into the world again. If you don’t get vaccinated, you have to test negative for COVID three days before you enter a different country and enter back into our country. 

“The boys had not gotten it, but we only got it because we thought we were going to be traveling,” teacher Amy Arensberg said. 

Not all students are rushing to get the vaccine, however.  Some believe their bodies are strong enough to fight off the virus itself without a vaccine. 

“I didn’t think I needed it because I have yet to contract COVID. I am very young, and I believe that my immune system is strong enough to fight off COVID,” senior Jesse Keiser said. 

Other students are worried about the reaction they might have to the vaccine. Symptoms have varied differently from each person after they received their doses. 

“I was originally scared to get the vaccine because I have heard about some defects that may be caused by the vaccine, so I was really just not looking forward to it,” Andrews said. 

The quick development of the shot could also be a reason people are hesitant, worrying that it hasn’t been proven nor been tested enough.

“I do believe in vaccination. This one makes me nervous because it’s such a new disease. I believe in longer testing before. Millions and millions and millions of people just serve up their bodies. I don’t feel like it’s been around and been tested enough to really know what it’s doing,” Arensberg said. 

Either way, the vaccine is likely to stay, though with no vaccine mandate at Yutan, students will still get to make the individual choice that’s best for them.