COVID-19 Vaccines Have Arrived

COVID vaccines have finally been certified for use to protect people from the virus by preventing the spread to other people. The vaccine can change the severity that the virus has on people and hope it can stop transmissions. 

Currently, vaccines have a limited availability and will be given depending on what tier an individual is in. There are 5 tiers with tier 1 being the most prioritized group (healthcare workers, long term care facility residents, and those 65 and older)  and tier 5 (healthy adults aged 19-65)  being the least prioritized. Those who want more info about the vaccine in the Los Angeles County area can be found on the Los Angeles County Public Health’s website and those that are eligible for the vaccine can book an appointment there as well.

“I think it’s great that there’s a COVID vaccine already. I think and hope it will work for many people. I also hope everyone who is able to take it, takes it,” said Aliyah Sierra, a sophomore.

Many people are skeptical of the COVID vaccine and if it will cause any harmful side effects. However,  the Centers for Disease Control and Safety (CDC) have stated, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) for two COVID-19 vaccines which have been shown to be safe and effective as determined by data from the manufacturers and findings from large clinical trials. These data demonstrate that the known and potential benefits of this vaccine outweigh the known and potential harms of becoming infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19).” 

Lizzel Morales, a sophomore stated, “I think the COVID vaccine is something that seems necessary and would benefit everybody and [would] be a step closer to everyone getting out of their house. It [COVID-19] wouldn’t infect all the people like it is now so I think it would work.” 

Although the vaccine may not be 100% effective, according to John Hopkins Medicine the vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective and will help prevent the further spread of COVID-19. However, you still need to wear a mask as a precaution since the vaccine is not effective within those 5% of people.

 Esteban Espinosa said, “I think it’s good that they put all their time into a vaccine so we can have it at this time. I think it will work because of all the time they put into it. They’re the doctors, not us. They know what they are doing.”

Vaccines have to go through many trials to be considered safe for human usage, but the reason why it has developed so quickly than a regular vaccine was due to a collective effort from scientists from around the world to get as much information as possible on COVID-19. As well, they also worked on some stages of the testing phases at the same time to reduce time in order to get the vaccine out to the public. 

It is important to remember that the process of creating a vaccine is strict and often fails the steps to become certified due to it not reaching the guidelines and regulations for human safety. The vaccine can stop the spread of the Coronavirus and put an end to the trials and tribulations that everyone around the world had to go through from this pandemic.