Chloe Reid
Reporter
Within the past few months, COVID-19 vaccine distributions have been in full swing. With the recent news of vaccines being available to anyone 16 years of age and older in the state of Idaho, the ability to be vaccinated is available to a much larger demographic in comparison to past months. With a vast majority of Idaho State students being within this age group, anyone and everyone willing is now available to get vaccinated. According to current statistics based on interviewed students, several students plan to do just that.
According to a poll conducted on The Bengal Instagram page, out of 45 student responses, 23 responses (51%) reported having already gotten the vaccine, and 22 responses (49%) had not. Out of 28 responses in a secondary poll, for those who hadn’t received the vaccine yet, 21 responses (75%), voted to plan to get the vaccine in the future, compared to 7 responses (25%) who do not plan to. Despite being the lower population, those who don’t plan to get the vaccine all have underlying reasoning. While getting vaccinated comes with several likely benefits, the vaccine has come with several doubts for many people. From the fear of getting it due to its relative newness in comparison to other vaccines to potential side effects, population control rumors, and many other reasons, not everyone is absolutely on board with the idea of receiving a vaccine.
“I’ve heard a lot say that they’re scared the vaccine will kill us all and they’re using it for population control, but I don’t feel like they would be distributing the vaccines all over the world if it truly was for that reason,” said Maquella Chacon, a junior majoring in communications.
However, some students welcome the vaccine with open arms. Despite the previously mentioned doubts of getting it, students view the vaccine as a big opportunity for many reasons, such as once again returning to a normal life, assistance towards higher-risk individuals or even as an open demonstration of maintaining public health.
“I haven’t gotten the vaccine yet but I plan to. I just want to do my part in getting the world back to normal,” said Anika Auman, a freshman theater major. Some students chose to get the vaccine for other reasons, such as matters regarding personal protection. “I got the vaccine to help protect my body. I used to be anemic as well as anorexic so my immune system and body aren’t as strong as healthy people. I just don’t want to take a risk as it might affect me more than others who might get it,” said Monique Navarro, a freshman majoring in sociology.
According to Healthline, experts have decided that 70 to 90 percent of people may need to be immune to the virus in order to achieve herd immunity. While this statistic is varying, a fair amount of people will still need to get the vaccine regardless in order for the general public to consider reopening. According to Our World in Data, the current data supplier for vaccine statistics on Google, 308,000 (17.5%) Idahoans, and 58 million (17.7%) US residents in total have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Within only two months, Idaho is within nearly 1/5 of the goal within the state and is extremely similar to the nationwide statistic. Within a majority of students planning to get it at some point, it can be hoped that that number will soon rise within Idaho, and specifically the Idaho State University campus. How many vaccinations will be needed exactly for Idaho State to start seeing direct changes is unknown. For those who are planning to get vaccinated, but are unsure where or when to start, several local pharmacies have started offering the vaccine to scheduled and eligible patients, such as Albertsons, Shaver Pharmacy, Fred Meyer and Smith’s Pharmacy. For more information about the current amount of vaccinations being offered and released, visit cdc.gov/coronavirus and click on the “Vaccines” tab.
