After a year of waiting in quarantine, vaccinations like Pfizer, Moderna and Johnsen Johnsen/Janssen have been created in an effort to end a worldwide pandemic. 

 People are hoping this vaccine will keep them safe from the virus. 

Sophomore Sierra Houston stated, “I wanted to take the vaccine because I wanted to stay safe and protect the others around me.”

Houston was at first afraid of the results of the vaccine, but then everything resolved.

“I felt fatigue in the first hours of getting it, and the next day the arm I got it in felt really sore,” Houston said

 “I felt a little sick but that is the normal reaction and it only hurt for about a day or two.”

Additionally, Houston is happy that she took the vaccine for a good cause.

 “I do feel safe and protected now that I took the vaccine, and I do think that I can protect others since I have a low chance of getting it and spreading it.”

Other students at Dimond High School feel the same way with their return to the classrooms. 

Sophomore Naomi Batac said, “I think people taking the vaccine will help our nation achieve herd immunity from the virus. 

“I think it is important that people take it because it protects them and others.”

However, not everyone has the same thoughts about the vaccines.

Sophomore Thalia Bunton said, “I personally don’t feel comfortable taking the vaccine but once it is shown to be 100 percent effective, then I am willing to take it.”

As a result, Bunton does not think that going to school is a good idea. 

“I don’t really think it’s very safe to have teens being at school at all, vaccine or no vaccine,” Bunton said.

“The pandemic is still in ways new. Even if we are young and can fight it off, I don’t think we should be thrown back into school so soon as young as we are.”

 However, Bunton still appreciates those who do take the vaccinations. 

“I think people who take the vaccine will be a part of history in the making,” Bunton said.

“For example, if I take this vaccine and it turns out to work, I am eliminated from being able to spread it thus keeping everyone around safe and out of harm’s way.”

At the same time, Batac thinks that people should still keep themselves safe, with or without the vaccine. 

Batac said, “I think whatever the CDC says should be followed, they have been studying the effects of the vaccine on different age levels and they know best.

“The people who aren’t eligible for taking the vaccine should do whatever means necessary for them to stay safe.”

Being vaccinated has a great impact on students’ decisions on whether they should go to school or not. 

“If students take the vaccine, more people would be inclined to go back to school because of the protection that the vaccine would give us,” said Batac.

On the other hand, Bunton thinks that school isn’t such a good idea for the time being. 

“I think that the best thing to do is to wait till the vaccine is seen as successful, and till then do what we have been doing and do online school to keep not only yourself, but everyone safe,” Bunton said.

Some people think that time is the best solution while others think that doing whatever possible, like taking the vaccine, is the best way to cope with the epidemic.

Bunton said, “I don’t think it is the best idea to put ourselves at risk by taking the vaccine and going to school. 

“Yes it is honorable taking it and being the first to test it out, but I still think we should just give it some more time.”

On the other hand, Batac said, “Many clinical trials have been done with the vaccines and Pfizer has been proven to be 95 percent effective.

“Additionally, I think that the side effects aren’t horrible. I have had several people in my household that have taken both doses of the vaccine and when I asked them about it, they said they felt normal and only had slight soreness where the vaccine was injected.”