365 days ago we were safe in our homes. From late March to mid-May, our community experienced a stay-at-home order and, well, stayed at home. We watched Tiger King, baked banana bread and went on family walks. This temporary hibernation protected us in the best way it could, keeping ourselves and vulnerable community members distanced. However, this measure wasn’t enough to stop the spread of COVID-19, and neither was the lifting of the stay-at-home order later that month. As we’ve returned to the new normal, complete with masks, quarantines and more, we’re being presented with a glimmer of hope: vaccination.
Anyone over the age of 16 is now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine; nearly everyone who has the privilege should, to help protect those who don’t. Despite widespread availability, there is palpable resistance to vaccination, with 13% of adults reporting that they will “definitely not” receive a vaccine. In our own community and abroad, many feel vaccination is not a safe or worthwhile pursuit. They are wrong. For the preservation of public health and eventual creation of herd immunity we need to focus on mass vaccination. All eligible people have a responsibility to get vaccinated.
If you’re reluctant to get a vaccine, consider this as an action to protect your community. Press pause on your worries for a moment, and consider how it will impact the immunocompromised, the elderly and community members who stand to gain the most from herd vaccination. University of Chicago ethicist Laurie Zoloth explains this idea: “It begins with the notion that you should care about others, even strangers. And the idea that you should love your neighbor as profoundly as you love yourself — even placing their concerns and needs ahead of your own — is the great moral lesson and the core of justice in many religions.” The social responsibility we have to our community means we must get vaccinated. We should care about others and take action.
The COVID-19 vaccinations approved under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are just as safe as vaccines approved under a regular timeline. This infographic shows that EUA simply allows for vaccines to be mass produced while testing occurs. EUA does not allow for cutting corners in safety. It simply expedites administrative processes, like express shipping a package.
Vaccinations against diseases like polio, chicken pox, measles and rubella are already mandatory for public school students entering kindergarten in all 50 states. This has been effective in curbing and decreasing transmission over the past few decades, both within school buildings and their broader communities. Past results and empirical evidence are testaments to the efficacy of vaccines. Despite the COVID-19 vaccines’ expedited approval, they are still just as safe as the other, already mandated vaccines.
No vaccine is 100% effective. Even fully vaccinated people have a slight risk of developing COVID-19, but studies have shown that mass vaccination directly lowers transmission rate in communities, making the overall rate of infection for everyone much lower. By getting yourself vaccinated, you help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and even deaths.
Vaccination is paramount to protecting our community and moving forward, and the education system plays a vital role.
According to Dr. Kelly Moore, associate director for immunization education at the Immunization Action Coalition, when lawmakers and immunization experts determine which vaccines to make mandatory for children attending public school, their biggest question is “Do we think this vaccine will make schools a safer, healthier learning environment for our children?”
The return to in-person school has sparked many questions about safety and COVID-19 procedures. Many students and staff members have felt unsafe returning to a learning environment that was at-risk for COVID-19 transmissions. To minimize this risk and support a largely in-person learning experience next year, we must get vaccinated.
Even though the risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection is low in children and young adults, getting students vaccinated will still have a major effect on the quality of in-person learning. Students will no longer have to worry about spreading the virus to others in their communities if they and their families are also vaccinated, which will result in an increase in in-person enrollment next school year. This means the risk of COVID-19 infection for the overall community is much lower and we will see better student-student and student-teacher interactions than those present. Getting your vaccination will allow for higher-quality in-person learning.
While public and private colleges alike have begun to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for students returning in-person this fall, confident that probable legal battles will swing in their favor, public schools have less leeway to take that chance. The Parkway School District has begun to encourage vaccinations for eligible students through their Apr. 26 vaccine drive, but a full-dose should ideally be mandated, and at the very least heavily encouraged, to have any chance at a higher quality in-person experience next year. A school year with fewer worries and more of a chance to focus on the content at hand will only be possible with a vaccinated student body.
Everyday, we take actions to support others and we make choices that do not harm others. Getting vaccinated is an extension of this choice. Make every effort and take every chance to get vaccinated. Do your part and adhere to your social responsibility so we can move forward as a community. Below we have some resources available so that you can get your vaccine. Please, do your part.
Resources to get your vaccine:
St. Louis County Vaccine Appointments
Walk-in or appointments available at St. Luke’s
Walk-in site available at the Dome at America’s Center
Senior Sri Jaladi’s Vaccine Notification Registration Website
If you are the parent of a Parkway student over the age of 16, and did not receive an email regarding Parkway vaccination opportunities for your student, or have any questions, contact Katherine Park ([email protected]).
![Within the U.S., the busiest shopping period of the year is Cyber Week, the time from Thanksgiving through Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year, shoppers spent $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, which is a 7.3% year-over-year increase from 2023. “When I was younger, I would always be out with my mom getting Christmas gifts or just shopping in general. Now, as she has gotten older, I've noticed [that almost] every day, I'll open the front door and there's three packages that my mom has ordered. Part of that is she just doesn't always have the time to go to a store for 30 minutes to an hour, but the other part is when she gets bored, she has easy access to [shopping],” junior Grace Garetson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/DSC_0249.JPG-1200x801.jpg)
![Senior Sally Peters stands in the history hallway, contemplating her choices in the 2024 United States and Missouri elections on Nov. 5. As a member of Diplomacy Club, Peters has discussed key candidates and issues in contemporary American politics. “[As students], we're starting to become adults. We're realizing how much the policies that are enforced and the laws that make it through the House and Senate are starting to affect us. [Opportunities such as] AP [U.S.Government] and Diplomacy Club [make elections feel] a lot more real,” Diplomacy Club vice president and senior Nidhisha Pejathaya said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Flag-1-1.png)
![Mounting school pressure can leave many students overworked and overstressed. Schools must give students the necessary resources to help assuage student mental health issues and prevent the development of serious crises. “The biggest thing [schools] can do [to protect student mental health] is offer more time [to do work], like a study hall, or offer more support from teachers so that students don't feel stressed out and can get help in areas that they need,” senior Bhavya Gupta said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/unnamed-4.jpg)
![Like many students, sophomore Medina Nanic experiences pressure to do well in school. Through continuous success and achievements, West has developed a high academic standard for students. “Because we’re seen as one [of] the better schools, we have higher standards than the [schools] who aren’t ranked as high. There’s a lot of pressure on students to do [well] and live up to those standards,” Nanic said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0029-2-1200x800.jpg)
![In the 1950s, the first recorded spikes in global temperatures were recorded, and ever since, Earth has been in the midst of a disastrous climate crisis, as rising temperatures wreak havoc on susceptible regions and destroy animal habitats worldwide. Junior Nidhi Pejathaya helped found West’s Sustainability Council to create a space where students can educate themselves about climate change and do their part to preserve the environment. “When you're going out of your way to recycle [or] reuse your clothes to save water, you're saving people. You're saving adults, you're saving families, you're saving children. You're saving a whole generation. Just because we don't see it doesn't mean it's not happening,” Pejathaya said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/new-editorial-feature-1200x800.jpg)
![For the past three years, Parkway has administered high school finals after winter break, a practice that proves to be detrimental to the success as well as the mental health of students. With finals after break appearing to do more harm than good, the question of what changes can be made arises time and time again. “The pressure for finals is difficult, and to have that [pressure for] a few weeks because you're on [a] break can make you generally sad. It's a bummer in general. I wish [finals] were before break, so we [could] have a break to sleep, celebrate and not study. Everyone I've talked to about it is like 'yeah, finals sucks,' and I wish that wasn't a thing,” junior Meadow Kostial said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/decembereditorial-1200x963.jpg)
![Complex global supply chains supply the goods for everyday luxuries, such as the coffee at West High’s Blue Brew. Low tariffs enabled much of the prosperity of modern history. “Higher tariffs lead to higher costs. A tariff is a tax on an imported good, and someone has to pay for that tax, and typically that [will] end up impacting consumers,” economics teacher Rachel Money said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Flag-1.png)
![Eyes glued to his sheet music, senior Andrew Gillies accompanies the Jazz Band as the pianist. During the annual Winter Jazz Concert, Gillies was chosen to improvise a solo during the song, “T.J. Boogie.” ¨I love concerts [because of] how the audience reacts, and just the stage lights [shining on me],¨ Gillies said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DSC_3774-1200x801.jpg)
![Junior TJ Polack plays his saxophone solo at halftime for the 2024 marching band show, ‘Coloring Book.’ This year, Polack was one of two soloists in the marching band. “[Polack] is very hard on himself. [His saxophone solo] sounds amazing [and] everyone [cheers] for him; [still], somehow, he thinks it’s a bad performance and he's down. What he does is not easy. It takes a lot of confidence as a person [and] a lot of musical skill to be expressive, and he's doing an amazing job,” drum major and senior Dominic Perez said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/462488499_2973926416100522_5057718068659607183_n-1200x925.jpg)
![Blending together a concoction for a science experiment, science teacher Joel Anderson scares his students by bringing excitement and thrill into his classroom for his annual Halloween show. It took about six weeks for Anderson to set up his classroom for the show. “It’s pure terror. I came up with this idea a couple decades ago to do something fun for Halloween. So I pretend to be this mad scientist [that creates] a Frankenstein-like creature [with the class], learning a little bit of science along the way and [then ending] with a laser show. It’s just for fun; entertainment value,” Anderson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0021.JPG_-1200x800.jpg)
