The coronavirus pandemic has been upon the world for a little over a year now, spreading to almost every corner of the Earth. The World Health’s rush to get a vaccine out has been going on since March of last year, when most places in America went into lockdown, finally producing its first vaccine around December. Because this vaccine was a tad rushed, it’s not perfect and there’s bound to be side effects. The CDC warns that people who take the vaccine may experience swelling or pain at the site of the injection, fever, chills, tiredness, headache, etc. These symptoms all sound like COVID itself, and that’s pretty much what it is–a milder version of COVID. It will help your immune system to grow to adjust so that if you do encounter the virus, you have a higher chance of fighting it off.

Because of how quickly this vaccine came out, the high fatality risk COVID-19, and the overall uncertainty of the entire situation, people are wondering how safe this really is. People like this may not even be anti-vax, but those who are have been using it as leverage against the vaccine. Changing the opinion of someone who’s anti-vax isn’t easy, but for those of you that are uncertain about it, here’s some stuff to remember; the last time there was a pandemic, vaccination medicine was nowhere near as advanced as it is now, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been working hard since March of last year to make something safe and effective–even if it has its complications. The CDC has stated in an article about the safety of the COVID vaccine that it is 100% safe and effective. They went through tens of thousands of participants, clinical trials, and met the FDA’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. The FDA states that these vaccines will be under constant and intensive safety monitoring. 

In Oregon, a total of 1.22 million doses of vaccines have been administered, 441 thousand of which have been fully vaccinated. 10% of Oregon’s population has been fully vaccinated and the number continues to grow. Worldwide, 312 million vaccines have been administered, 68.8 million people have received all of their COVID shots, leaving us at .8% of the population being fully vaccinated. The vaccines have been proving effective, which has led to the reopening of most schools in the North Clackamas School District. Students will be returning to school for hybrid learning in the fourth quarter. 

Students all generally agreed that they would take the vaccination if given the chance and the work that the FDA has done for finding the COVID vaccine has left everyone hopeful for the future, such as students returning to school, businesses being able to return to their regular schedules, and people finding job opportunities. The vaccine seemed a little scary of an idea at first, especially since most critics thought it would take a lot longer for the vaccine to be made and it only took a little less than a year, but once more people got the vaccine with limited to no side effects, it became more trusted. Hopefully, the good responses will continue until everything is led back into “normalcy”.