Receiving the COVID vaccine is crucial -- and it is safe

By Ellie Jeong

Sunny Hills High School

As of January 9, it has been almost ten full months since COVID-19 has started affecting millions of Americans. Being a novel virus that humanity has never experienced, there had been no definite cure to this disease. After numerous efforts to find the vaccine by scientists all over the world, the first vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech has been distributed to the majority of U.S. healthcare workers on December 14th, causing arguments along with rising suspicions among the public.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been tested on 44,000 participants in a randomized clinical trial and passed the safety reviews created by the FDA. One of the biggest concerns of the so-called “anti-vaxxers” is the possible side effects after having been injected with the vaccine. Common side effects reported are headaches, muscle pain, joint pain, chills, and fever, but they are known to be highly tolerable.

Another question that is asked frequently by the public is the true validity of the vaccine. Many wonder how the coronavirus vaccines were made so fast compared to other vaccines in the past which took years to develop. The process behind this record-breaking vaccine is that the messenger-RNA used in the vaccines take very little time to be produced and the scientists were already able to initiate their work through the viral genome template. Therefore, the relatively short time that had taken to be approved does not indicate that the coronavirus is any less valid than other vaccines mass distributed to the public.

Despite the scientific proof, the two sides regarding the vaccine continue to develop arguments for their own sides. Jennie Jeong, an 8th grader attending Parks Junior High School, insists on distributing the vaccine and that “it is ridiculous to not receive the free vaccine when the majority of the safety concerns could be reputed scientifically while also putting more lives at risk.”

When perceived logically, the benefits of receiving a vaccine outweigh the risks. Many might justify their anti-vaccine beliefs by saying the choice is up to each individual. However, that one choice may put hundreds of others at risk when an easy solution exists. Vaccine injections should be encouraged more in the media and our daily lives as strong evidence exists that shows that mass vaccination can stop the pandemic from growing even more. It has been an extremely long fight with the virus, and now it is time for us to step up and fight it with our knowledge and logic.