Coronavirus Vaccine Affects Students
The less vulnerable group will wait for coronavirus vaccines.
Adelene Guo | 12/31/20
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has successfully been approved by the FDA in the United States on December 11, 2020. Just seven days later, a second vaccine by Moderna has been approved and a third one by Johnson & Johnson may even be coming in January.
This vaccine could mean the end of nearly ten months of quarantine and a chance for things to go back to normal. Of course, the change won’t be instantaneous. The distribution of the vaccines to all demographics may take months, and we must take into consideration certain demographic priorities such as seniors. This will all affect the school’s reopening back into in-person education.
The availability of the vaccine, for now, is limited to ages 16 and above due to insufficient data studies for the younger age groups and demographic priority. Demographics most susceptible to the virus are usually adults or older especially if they have underlying conditions. Younger demographics such as children are less vulnerable, seen in the lower infection rate in children and have less severe cases.
Of course, that doesn’t mean our children shouldn’t have a vaccine, as they are still vulnerable and able to spread the virus. In fact, there has been a spike in child cases since December 3, 2020, with a 25 percent increase. Currently, there are one million youth cases around the world and 113 children have died. Though it seems minuscule compared to the overall mortality rate, it is understandable for parents and relatives to be concerned for their children as any bit of risk is more than enough. Unfortunately, a vaccine for younger children will not exist until mid or late 2021, but the testing period has already been cut and we still must ensure its efficacy and safety.
With schools transitioning to reopening, it is essential to consider all factors of risk. While the vaccines are still being administered to adults, outbreaks of COVID spread by children, but more so the adult staff, are a huge hole in safety. Students who have strong immune systems should be safe, but CDC guidelines must be kept in order to ensure complete protection for school teachers and staff until vaccines are made available to all the staff.
In fact, companies and institutions are debating whether to enforce necessary vaccinations on all workers including teachers and school staff. Creating a controversy over this topic, many American workers actually refuse or are hesitant of taking the vaccine, whether they are unable to receive proper health care or are in denial of the vaccine or even the virus itself. Employers are considering other options to influence their workers to get vaccinated such as praising employees willing to get the vaccines, which is pretty much peer pressure. Either way, not until the necessity of vaccines is met with re-emerging schools, can students and staff safely return to the classroom and learn.
For now, the vaccine is only made available to older high schoolers and college students. Schools would have more control over their students as they can enforce a vaccination as a part of their school policy. Meanwhile, it is tougher for employers to get their staff to comply with the vaccine because, as adult workers, they are working to receive pay and thus could leave their jobs with no immediate consequences rather than students who pay for their education or need the education to receive opportunities in the future.
In short, schools will be reopening whether it’s some sort of hybrid between online and in-person learning or full-on in-person learning. No matter what, school staff and students must all be vaccinated to keep outbreaks from spreading despite the reluctance of the American public if some degree of the in-person plan is introduced. Though a vaccine for children under 16 is coming much later after reopenings, children have a lower risk of contracting the virus and have the option to opt-out for online learning. Unfortunately, parents who can not afford child care may be forced to send their children into in-person learning at risk of their safety.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has successfully been approved by the FDA in the United States on December 11, 2020. Just seven days later, a second vaccine by Moderna has been approved and a third one by Johnson & Johnson may even be coming in January.
This vaccine could mean the end of nearly ten months of quarantine and a chance for things to go back to normal. Of course, the change won’t be instantaneous. The distribution of the vaccines to all demographics may take months, and we must take into consideration certain demographic priorities such as seniors. This will all affect the school’s reopening back into in-person education.
The availability of the vaccine, for now, is limited to ages 16 and above due to insufficient data studies for the younger age groups and demographic priority. Demographics most susceptible to the virus are usually adults or older especially if they have underlying conditions. Younger demographics such as children are less vulnerable, seen in the lower infection rate in children and have less severe cases.
Of course, that doesn’t mean our children shouldn’t have a vaccine, as they are still vulnerable and able to spread the virus. In fact, there has been a spike in child cases since December 3, 2020, with a 25 percent increase. Currently, there are one million youth cases around the world and 113 children have died. Though it seems minuscule compared to the overall mortality rate, it is understandable for parents and relatives to be concerned for their children as any bit of risk is more than enough. Unfortunately, a vaccine for younger children will not exist until mid or late 2021, but the testing period has already been cut and we still must ensure its efficacy and safety.
With schools transitioning to reopening, it is essential to consider all factors of risk. While the vaccines are still being administered to adults, outbreaks of COVID spread by children, but more so the adult staff, are a huge hole in safety. Students who have strong immune systems should be safe, but CDC guidelines must be kept in order to ensure complete protection for school teachers and staff until vaccines are made available to all the staff.
In fact, companies and institutions are debating whether to enforce necessary vaccinations on all workers including teachers and school staff. Creating a controversy over this topic, many American workers actually refuse or are hesitant of taking the vaccine, whether they are unable to receive proper health care or are in denial of the vaccine or even the virus itself. Employers are considering other options to influence their workers to get vaccinated such as praising employees willing to get the vaccines, which is pretty much peer pressure. Either way, not until the necessity of vaccines is met with re-emerging schools, can students and staff safely return to the classroom and learn.
For now, the vaccine is only made available to older high schoolers and college students. Schools would have more control over their students as they can enforce a vaccination as a part of their school policy. Meanwhile, it is tougher for employers to get their staff to comply with the vaccine because, as adult workers, they are working to receive pay and thus could leave their jobs with no immediate consequences rather than students who pay for their education or need the education to receive opportunities in the future.
In short, schools will be reopening whether it’s some sort of hybrid between online and in-person learning or full-on in-person learning. No matter what, school staff and students must all be vaccinated to keep outbreaks from spreading despite the reluctance of the American public if some degree of the in-person plan is introduced. Though a vaccine for children under 16 is coming much later after reopenings, children have a lower risk of contracting the virus and have the option to opt-out for online learning. Unfortunately, parents who can not afford child care may be forced to send their children into in-person learning at risk of their safety.