Middle Ground: Should Everyone Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Pro vs Anti Vax

Six people sat down to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine and give their perspectives on it.

The first question they were asked was whether COVID-19 scared them or not. Thomas, a doctor who had worked with COVID-19 patients in the ICU, talked about how dangerous it is.

“I think the thing that scares me most about COVID is that it is so unpredictable,” he said. He mentioned that he had worked in the hospital for the past twenty years, and had never seen something like this before.

He had seen people who were 40 years old put on respirators.

Siaka, a skeptic of the vaccine, said that he was not afraid of it at all. He said that he contracted COVID-19 and recovered fine. His 74 year old mother, his children who are both 3 and 6 years old, and his 40 year old best friend all contracted COVID-19 and recovered fine.

“I’ve been going to rallies since June. I’ve been around multiple people of all ages,” he said. He had come into close contact with a lot of people, and nothing had happened to him or them.

For the next prompt, everyone in the group talked about if all of America should get the vaccine.

Jacklyn, a registered nurse, said that people who were allergic to vaccines should not get it. However, she had seen the effect of COVID-19 as her grandmother had passed away from it.

“Herd immunity – I think it could give us back to normal life,” she said.

Erika, a vaccine skeptic, said that she would rather get COVID-19 than get the vaccine. If she contracted COVID-19, then she can build up her anti-bodies to defeat it.

A very big reason that she did not get the vaccine is because she is allergic to vaccines. When she was younger, she would develop hives from them. This became a big fear for her.

“My thoughts were getting really dark,” she said about a recent episode she had. “I visualized myself cutting off each hive,” she said.

The last question the group discussed was about the COVID-19 restrictions and whether they were necessary.

Percy, a vaccine skeptic, said that it had been necessary. People in the gym did not sanitize or clean the equipment. He said it was important for the government to implement structure to keep people safe.

“If we didn’t close down, people would still be at the beaches having a good old time,” he said.

He mentioned the concert rap singer Bow Wow. Back in January, he had a concert that was packed with people, and no one wore masks. Percy said that if one person had COVID-19, it would spread fast.

Kelly, a teacher and a vaccine supporter, said that the lockdown changed her students. Before the lockdown, they were all doing fine in classes, but the lockdown caused them to shutdown socially.

“The shutdown is a little bit long, and possibly, could have been staggered, or altered in different ways,” she said.

However, she said that the lockdowns were necessary. The number of people in the hospital dropped after lockdowns were implemented.