Cynthia Nava
Lantern Staff
Among Kansans, 2.7 million have been vaccinated, 959,000 are fully vaccinated, or 32.9% of the state’s population, according to Our World in Data. Leading scientists believe it may be difficult to reach herd immunity though if more people do not get vaccinated. According to a New York Times article, “Continued immunizations, especially for people at highest risk because of age, exposure or health status, will be crucial to limiting the severity of outbreaks, if not their frequency, experts believe.”
There has been a lot of back and forth about people who are getting the vaccines and why then why people won’t get the vaccine and their reasons, all which are understandable.
The side effects from all after the shot are the same, but some do vary depending on the person. The side effects where the shot was placed is redness and swelling as well as soreness. The other side effects throughout the body are headaches, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea, also unable to do daily activities.
Professor of Mass Communications Mike Swan got the Moderna vaccine.
“My wife felt kind of low for several days, and my daughter didn’t,” Swan said. “I didn’t have a whole lot of energy for like three days.”
For Swan, getting the vaccine was not even a question.
“I wanted to get out of this pandemic,” Swan said. “Some of my other family members have gotten the vaccine, and they could visit relatives, but I couldn’t, and I was frustrated by that.”
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was put on hold because blood clots developed in six women between the ages of 18 to 50, but the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) continued to allow the vaccine to continue after examining it more closely.
Maggie Johnson, a freshman agriculture major, will not be getting the vaccine.
“I grew up on a family farm in Indiana,” Johnson said. “While growing up on a farm like this, I feel like it has built my immune system so much, and my family and I don’t ever get sick, so I feel like there wasn’t a need for me to get it.”
Freshman accounting major Jesse Busse will not get the vaccine either, but he may if he plans to travel.
“I don’t have a personal need [to get the vaccine],” Busse said. “I would like to go on my first cruise this December, and if they require a “Covid Passport,” then I won’t have much of a choice.”
On the other hand, other students like Lizzy Portwood, a freshman elementary education major, believes that getting the vaccine is a must.
“I just wanted to get it because I did some research, and I saw all the concerns some people had, but I do believe that it went through all the proper guidelines,” Portwood, who got the Pfizer vaccine, said. “I want to do anything I can to help people stay safe and get back to normal.”
On Wednesday, May 5, Butler Community College, partnered with the county’s health department, to offer the Johnson and Johnson vaccine on the El Dorado campus. As of now, there are no plans to required college employees or students to be vaccinated, according to President Kim Krull.
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