All school staff should get vaccinated
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hroughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, schools across the United States have been eagerly awaiting a vaccine to support the prospect of safely reopening. Granville Sophie Ehrman Schools staff is going to have the opportunity to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in the coming months. In a survey taken in the beginning of the school year, between 80-90% of school staff stated that they’d be interested in getting the vaccine. For the sake of the student body, all school staff should get vaccinated. The majority of the student body will not have the opportunity to be vaccinated for an uncertain amount of time even if they really wanted to. According to the Ohio Department of Health website, “the speed at which Ohio will move through the phases depends on the number of vaccines available.”
Given that the timeline is wholly unknown, all school staff should get vaccinated to help ensure the safety of our schools. Skeptics will say it is a personal choice. People are not mandated to get the flu shot, so why should they have to get the coronavirus vaccine? Many people are also skeptical for various other reasons such as not knowing what’s in the vaccine or concern about the quick timeline of development and production. All of these concerns have already been debunked. Covid-19 is clearly not like the flu at all. Generally, the U.S. death toll from the flu is somewhere between 34,000 and 43,000 annually, according to the CDC. Covid-19 has killed over 429,000 Americans in less than a year. They are not similar. As for not knowing what’s in it, people normally do not know exactly what’s in the vaccines they are receiving. If someone really wanted to know, it’s public information which is just a quick Google search away. The rapid development timeline is not concerning since
the speed can be attributed to the fact that this vaccine has been a worldwide effort for the past year in its entirety. The whole point was to get a vaccine developed quickly and efficiently. The fact that people are now recoiling from this highly anticipated medial miracle is astounding. If the staff cared for the student body as much as they say they do, they would get vaccinated. There is absolutely no sound reason not to get vaccinated. The vaccines have been thoroughly tested, approved and proven to be effective. Every other argument is threaded with blatant lies and ignorant oversights. Any opposition completely ignores science. No wild conspiracy theory should get in the way of maintaining the health and well-being of everyone inside Granville Schools. It is going to take everyone to end this pandemic. Especially now, it is important to check news sources for extreme bias to combat the consumption and spread of false information. It’s time to trust science. It’s time to have empathy.
It is okay to feel lazy during pandemic
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uring this pandemic, people feel like they have an obligation to be productive and take up new hobbies, but that is not the case. People should Kennedy Ogden not feel guilty for doing less during a pandemic. There has been a new wave of posts on social media about the various hobbies people have picked but during the pandemic like cooking, sewing, home projects and more. This new wave of productivity creates a vicious cycle for those who are feeling a lack of motivation during this time. In the population of people experiencing mental health struggles, they may feel it is hard to start something new. Some may argue that this is the most time people will have to themselves so people should take advantage of it. The
common issue with this statement is that not all people are in the same headspace or financial situation For this reason, people may not have enough resources to have a new outlet. The pandemic has created a multitude of issues from financial struggles to a variety of mental health struggles. It is hard for some people to immerse themselves in new hobbies because of the toll the pandemic has created for people from all walks of life. It is important for people with mental heath issues to take priority of themselves. Another reason why being “lazy” in this pandemic is acceptable is that this time period has probably been the most stressful. Seeing the constant increase in deaths and trying to be safe is stressful. Adapting to a new way of life can be daunting, especially one that no one has experienced before. All of the new factors of the pandemic allow for a stressful atmosphere. One thing that could majorly de-
crease the stress of being “lazy” during a pandemic is keeping our opinions to ourselves. There is no way of knowing what people are going through in this pandemic, so the best solution is to not bring it up. Keeping the judgment out of the pandemic can make the transition easier by bringing people together. People need to feel safe in their social space because the world around them may not feel that way. Another way to reduce the guilt of feeling “lazy” during the pandemic is to talk to others in a non-judgemental way. This means hearing and acknowledging the feelings that others are trying to talk about. Having sympathy and being mindful of others' situations should be as important as the golden rule, especially in 2021. Making accommodations for people this year is important to keeping life enjoyable. Keeping the social atmosphere open and safe is important in a time of isolation. OPINION BLUEPRINTS
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