The Mirror | Van Nuys High School | March 2021 | Volume 107 |Issue 3

18| MARCH 2021 | | P R O & C O N |
theMIRROR
THE VACCINE
Yes. I got it. I’m one step closer to normal.
SHAAN BHATIA
EDITOR-AT-LARGE
It’s been over a year since covid-19
forced almost everyone into mandatory
quarantine. The lines defining
our daily lives have blurred.
Busy malls have become ghost towns.
Arenas that were packed with fans are
now just empty shells of what they used
to be. The routines of our normal lives
seem like a thing of the past.
But all it takes is two shots in the arm
to return back to normal.
Whether you have outlandish views
such as “vaccines create autism” or reasonable
views such as “the creation of the
vaccines were rushed”; you should still
take the vaccine.
Nearly $9 billion has been invested into
vaccine research and development. While
the rush to create a vaccine was a popular
concern amongst Americans, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
made information regarding development
easily accessible to the public. At each
stage, numerous tests were conducted
and required approval by multiple researchers,
doctors and officials.
While I feel the CDC has done a great
job at making sure the vaccines are effective
and safe, our federal government
has done a poor job at distribution and
administration of the doses.
I definitely agree those who are most
at risk should get the vaccine first. This includes
police officers, firefighters, military
members, healthcare workers, the elderly
and those who have underlying medical
conditions.
The prioritization of those in the food
THE MIRROR | PHOTOS BY SHAAN BHATIA
IMMUNITY With just two doses of a vaccine,
people are becoming resistant to a virus that
seemed to have no end in an attempt to return to
normalcy.
industry over teachers and students is concerning.
I am not saying that those in the
food industry are any less important than
everyone else, but the need to get schools
fully reopened is far more important.
Students are missing out on important
lessons because teachers have been
forced to reduce the amount of time they
can devote to online lessons. The school
day has been reduced by more than two
hours and classes only meet two days a
week instead of five. High school students
are being shortchanged and are undergoing
their most important years before
college. The information they are losing
out on are what some consider to be the
fundamental for the rest of their lives.
Preschool and elementary students are
losing out on valuable social skills that can
only be learned by interacting with their
classmates in a class.
Getting teachers and students back in
classrooms is important. Vaccines are
the answer.
I am someone who would like to be
back in class and participate in extracurricular
activities with no fear of catching
the virus and transmitting it to members
of my family. I want to resume hangouts
with my friends without worrying about
masks and social distancing, so I decided I
would get the vaccine.
The first and most difficult step in
getting the vaccine was scheduling an appointment.
It took about a week and I had
to repeatedly refresh California’s Department
of Public Health website, myturn.
com, the appointment scheduling site.
After several error messages and unavailable
appointment times I finally got a text
confirming my appointment.
I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine
on March 10. When I arrived at the vaccination
site there were foldable chairs,
tents and long lines. When it was my turn,
volunteers asked me to present them with
an email confirming my appointment and
a recent pay stub along with a letter from
my employer as proof I worked in the
food industry. They immediately directed
me to the chairs behind them.
They asked me to keep my mask on
and present a valid driver’s license proving
I was old enough to get the Pfizer
vaccine, which is the only shot available
to those 16 and older. The staff offered
everyone water while they waited. Again
I had to present the required documents
and give my address, age and proof of
employment.
Next a nurse numbed my shoulder. I
was able to get a good look at the needle.
Although I typically get nervous and hate
getting shots I was eager to watch as the
needle penetrated the skin and the vaccine
dose was injected into my shoulder.
The shot felt no different than getting an
annual flu shot at the doctor’s office. After
injecting me, the nurse filled out the CDC’s
vaccine information card and handed it to
me to present when I got my second shot.
Next was a 15-minute supervised wait
period to see if I would show any adverse
symptoms. All the seats were socially
distanced, with nurses checking on those
whose wait time was almost completed.
When I asked a nurse if I could take pain
relievers such as Advil, they advised me
to stay away from pain relievers, since
they might reduce the effectiveness of the
first dose. When the wait was over I was
able to leave and head home. My only side
effect was a sore arm that lasted for less
than a week.
Although the process was nerve racking
and required a lot of patience, it was
worth it.
It means I’m one step closer to getting
back to my normal routine.
No. I’m passing. I won’t feed into the hype.
FELIPE RODRIGUEZ
As excited as we are to regain
control of our lives,
we shouldn’t be so eager to
receive the vaccine. Americans
are rightfully concerned about the
vaccine’s testing and question if crucial
testing was overlooked because of rushed
production.
A major concern is the credibility of the
drug manufacturers that mass produce
them. Pharmaceutical companies aren’t
being questioned enough and the public
is not doing enough personal research on
the manufacturers or the contents of the
vaccine.
One pharmaceutical company that
should raise concerns is AstraZeneca,
which produces medicine for respiratory,
metabolic and neurologic diseases.
PEXELS | GABBY K
In partnership with Oxford University
in Great Britain, the company created a
covid-19 vaccine.
In the past AstraZeneca paid millions of
dollars for false claims against U.S. federal
and state programs after marketing one of
their drugs for illnesses that were never approved
by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). Doctors were bribed to recommend
and prescribe the drug to patients
and by doing so, their health was at risk.
A company with a past like this shouldn’t
have the ability to produce and distribute a
vaccine because they’re unreliable.
Individuals who received the vaccine
reported some side effects ranging from
mild to severe fatigue, headaches, muscle
aches and fevers and according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) severe allergic reactions are
also possible. Unfortunately for others, the
result of the vaccine was fatality.
Recently, a Florida doctor who suffered
a fatal brain hemorrhage after receiving
the Pfizer vaccine is being investigated.
Pfizer claims to be actively investigating
the death but believes it was unrelated to
the vaccine.
Belief is not enough. Pfizer should
pull their vaccine until health officals are
certain the death is not a result of the
vaccine.
Instead of taking the vaccine, start with
quarantining at home. Continue to wear
face masks and regular disinfecting will go
a long way in offering protection.
Whether or not you decide to get vaccinated,
death is still a possible outcome
for both choices. There have been reports
of 23 deaths of elderly people who got
vaccinated.
Those who choose to get vaccinated
should not stop following health procedures
like social distancing and wearing a
mask simply because they believe they’re
protected from covid-19. We can’t simply
rely on the vaccine.