Currently, our country is split in half. From the people who are willing to receive the vaccine and the side who are skeptical of this new vaccine and are not willing to get it. But both sides have legitimate reasons for their argument. 

Right now, listed on the CDC website, there are three main types of the Covid Vaccine. Protein subunit vaccines, mRNA vaccines, and Vector vaccines. Protein subunit vaccines contain protein from the virus. Our cells will copy the protein, and then destroy the genetic material from the vaccine. If the virus ever enters the body, our cells will know that the proteins shouldn’t be there and then destroy the virus. The other versions of the vaccines also work in their unique ways. 

A leading cause of people being so divided on this topic is due to politics, social media, and most of the time misinformation.  For example, 45-year-old Patricia Rodriguez, a kindergarten through eight grade teacher, said she would take the vaccine if she had access, “Yes, because I work as a teacher and I work at a higher risk.” There is also obviously a side who is skeptical and is not willing to get the vaccine. Stephany Castillo, 27 years old, stated, “I would not get it because I’m not sure about the side effects of the vaccine. I’m scared of the true, unheard effects.” 

Most people who are willing to get it say that it will help the community overall. An example of this is, 57-year-old Maria E Mondragon. She said, “Yes, I would because they made it for a reason. And it’s safer than not getting it.” Mondragon also said she believes that the reason some people don’t want to take the vaccine is that, “Some people don’t believe in the virus, or it’s not as huge as the government or social media says.”

There is another side of this conversation; minors who want to take the vaccine, but can’t receive the vaccine because of their age. An example of this is Ariana Posso, a 15-year-old who wants to get the vaccine. She said, “Yes, because of health reasons and it overall helps the community. I would also get it to prevent from getting covid and for immunity reasons as well.” 

Jeffrey DeLeon Vaca is a 15-year-old high school student who wants to receive the vaccine. He says he would get the vaccine because, “Yes, I’m not allowed to get it because I’m 15. But If I were to have the privilege, I would get it. It’s just safer for me and my family. It prevents me from getting it, and limiting my chance of spreading it to other people,” 

There are opposing sides of people who want or don’t want to take this vaccine. Their principle argument is that we don’t know all the side effects yet. But over time we will know most of the side effects. The vaccine is fairly new, so we don’t know everything that happens after someone takes the vaccine. Twenty-year-old Ashley DeLeon said, “Nope, it’s just the side effects. I’m scared about what will happen to me if I take it.” 

But there is another side of the argument, the accessibility of the Covid vaccine. Many people don’t have the privilege of receiving it. For example, twenty-five-year-old Angelica DeLeon stated, “How much it would cost, the accessibility, how many resources do we have. These are all major concerns.” 

No matter what side you’re on, you still have to be safe about covid-19. Everyone should take precautions and should social distance. Overall, be cautious and follow all the guidelines to stay safe from this pandemic. Even if you plan on getting the vaccine or not.