Vaccines are important to the human body because they provide a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases. There are many vaccines that high school students are required to take such as Tdap, HepA, HepB, HPV, and more. Each vaccine plays an important role that keeps them and the people around them protected from diseases. As a high school student, I know first-hand how messy things can be. Most high school students love to socialize, leading to physical contact. How do you know if their hands are clean, or if they are sick? Even if they are your friend, you can never be too careful. With the protection of the vaccine, at least you will have the comfort that you are doing your part and keeping yourself safe. Vaccines can mean the difference between life and death. High school students should get vaccinated because they keep you healthy.
It is important to keep yourself healthy. Eating healthy foods, being active, getting regular check-ups, and vaccines play a vital role in keeping people healthy, including high school students. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccines are one of the safest and most convenient preventative care measures available. As a high school student in school with a large student population, there are many germs. Germs can be spread with a single handshake between you and a fellow peer or teacher. Taking school size into consideration, a school with a larger population needs to be more careful. Vaccines make sure that vaccine preventable diseases are under control and do not spread. Germs are small, and cannot be seen by the naked eye. In a crowded high school, if a student with the flu sneezes, even just a little one, then being in that crowded hallway could potentially give everyone in that area the flu. Germs are small and travel much faster than you would think.
A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology noted that germs from one sneeze could travel from 19 to 26 feet. What is also unfortunate is how fast these germs travel: A sneeze can move at 100 miles per hour, which makes it impossible to get away from someone when they sneeze. A simple vaccine could protect you from harmful things. Other precautions to ensure safety among high school students are washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, or simply staying home when sick to prevent others from getting sick.
With the current spread of COVID-19, wearing a mask alone is not enough. Getting a vaccine would provide at least 90% protection. In a high school with a large student population, it seems impossible to keep each person 6 feet apart at all times. Taking this vaccine reduces the risk of COVID-19 while letting high schoolers act a bit more freely and feel a sense of responsibility. If high schoolers were vaccinated, I believe that those rules could decrease. If everyone was vaccinated and proper protocols were followed, masks could even be taken down for a bit. There are three different vaccines: Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna. The Pfizer vaccine can be administered to children ages 12 and up, while the other vaccines remain available for adults ages 18 and up. Depending on age and research, any vaccine would suffice.
Vaccines do not have many severe side effects. The vaccines contain either killed or weakened viruses, making it near impossible to catch the disease from the vaccine. This is not including the side effects. People often mistake side effects for the actual illness. Getting vaccinated would reduce the worry of catching the disease, and create an extra layer of protection. To further illustrate, potential side effects associated with vaccines are uncommon and much less severe than the disease they prevent. Although there is still a small risk that someone might catch the disease with the vaccine, you increase your protection rate. The actions that adolescents take determine how the rest of the percentage is used. Examples include handwashing, maintaining a safe distance from others, and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze.
In a high school setting, you see many hugs, handshakes, and other greetings that people perform, in which some greetings are closer to each other than some others. With COVID-19 and social distancing close contact methods are not suggested. As a high school student, I find it odd to just stand there and say hello to a friend that I have not seen for a while. With schools opening up again, and COVID-19 still around, getting vaccinated is one way that people can protect themselves and their community. Getting vaccinated slows down the spread of COVID-19, and reduces infection rate. You do not know where the other kids have been, or what their places of vacation have been like. Since people can carry diseases, they can bring all of that back to the building. The least that people can do is get vaccinated to prevent themselves from falling ill, and ending up missing days due to them being at home. Although some people do not mind working from home, others may find it difficult to focus, and have trouble understanding without having that visual representation from a teacher.
Getting vaccinated is not only for protection in the present, but for the future as well. Since the virus is weakened in the vaccine, it gives your immune system a chance to train itself and develop immunity to the disease. So, if you do catch it, it would be pretty light. Similar to the COVID 19 vaccines, other vaccines as well are free. Why not take advantage of free protection? Vaccines are important and play an immense role in adolescents in high school. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends vaccinations from birth to adulthood to provide a lifetime of protection against many diseases and infections.” Even with the CDC and FDA certifications for safe vaccines, many teens are not vaccinated as recommended, leaving them needlessly vulnerable to disease, suffering, and death.” High schoolers need to get vaccinated to ensure their safety, play a part in stopping the spread of vaccine curable diseases, and if they want to get somewhat of that same freedom from before COVID-19, they need to take responsibility and get vaccinated.
By: Bassmala Elgamal, Alexandria City High School