Opinion | 2
Shelter from the storm | 4-5
Taste of 2020 | 6
Big Tech censorship a threat to First Amendment rights of all
Students share their stormy weather during a pandemic and election-filled year
Did you make these TikTok treats during quarantine? And do you still love them?
Vanguard College Preparatory School, 2517 Mt. Carmel Dr., Waco, Texas 76710
February 2021, Volume 48, Issue 4
The Vanguard Review A VCPS Publication
COVID-19: Current Stats Active Cases
Recovered
McLennan County
693
22,227
Vanguard
2
17
Source: McLennan County Health District; VCPS
INAUGURATION DAY: JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. IS SWORN IN AS THE 46TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON JAN. 20, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine distribution continues amid concerns Issues of efficiency and effectivity come to forefront of distribution process
A
fter months of speculation and uncertainty, the COVID-19 vaccine has finally arrived. Thus far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized two vaccine providers, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, for emergency use. The United States planned to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020. However, only 2.1 million had received the vaccine by the end of the year, according to a press conference hosted by U.S. Army Gen. Gustave F. Perna and Moncef Slaoui - who are heading the federal government’s plan for vaccine distribution called Operation Warp Speed. Although initially there were concerns about the vaccines’ safety and who would receive them first, the inefficacy of the distribution process has become a prevalent concern in the minds of many. “I don’t think that the process of distribution has been efficient so far,” Faith Regan, senior, said. “There is a lot of argument about who should get it first, and at this point, the vaccines are just sitting there when they could be distributed.” Phase 1A is the first group in the Texas distribution process, which consists primarily of healthcare workers and first responders. By now, the state planned to have already completed 1A and continued on to 1B, people over the age of 65 and other high-risk individuals. At the time of this article, they have not completed 1A and are only beginning to vaccinate those in 1B. “I think in some places the distribution has been efficient, but in some places, it could be better,” Danae Simmons, freshman, said. “In most places, it could be going faster and not all the people who need it are getting it, such as older people. But overall, this is a relatively new thing, and it is going okay.” In Waco, efforts have been made to expedite the process. On Jan. 12, the Waco-McLennan
County Health District opened a new hub for vaccine distribution at the Waco Convention Center with plans of administering 500 doses per day. As of the writing of this article, at least 8,786 people in McLennan County have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 1,003 people have received both doses. “The goal [in setting up a center for vaccine distribution at the Convention Center] is to get out the vaccine as quickly, efficiently, and safely as possible,” Kelly Craine, the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District’s public information officer, said. Efficiency with this process is essential, as both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines must be used within six hours after being removed from frozen storage and prepared for use. “As soon as we at the health district get our vaccine, we immediately start vaccinating people,” Craine said. “We don’t hold it in or save it for anything. We get it out as quickly as possible, and the state gets it to providers like us as soon as they receive it.” Many are also concerned about the safety of the vaccines due to their rapid development. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is approved for those ages 16 and above, while the Moderna vaccine is approved for those aged 18 and older. According to the Feb. VR poll, 39.2 percent of students are unsure whether they will get the vaccine when it is available to them. “I’m wary,” Regan said. “Personally, I think I’m going to wait until a lot of others get it, but I think that if there are no complications, people should get it.” A VCPS student who preferred to remain anonymous agrees. “I think that because there haven’t really been any harmful negative effects linked to the vaccine,
Elizabeth Watson ‘21 editor-in-chief
at least that I have heard of, there shouldn’t really be a problem with people getting vaccinated,” the student said. “The vaccinations seem to be pretty effective as well. What shouldn’t happen though is forced vaccination.” Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have efficacy rates of ap- A sign for the first round of vaccinations stands on the lawn of the Waco Conproximately 95 per- vention Center, where those in Phases 1A and 1B are now eligible to receive their cent, according to a vaccinations . Photo by Elizabeth Watson / VR Staff report published by to a virus by means of vaccination or past infecJohns Hopkins University. A common misconception is that it is possi- tions. Thus, it is important for people to continue ble to contract COVID-19 by means of the vaccine. to take measures to protect themselves and others. “I think the pandemic will get worse in the upAccording to the report, the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines “do not have any virus or other coming months and the vaccine news is giving a infectious material in them.” Both vaccines utilize false sense of security,” Regan said. “Many people a messenger RNA (mRNA) technique that trains are gathering in large groups again when they still the immune system to make copies of and recog- shouldn’t be.” Simmons agrees. nize COVID-19 spike proteins so that the immune “I think the pandemic will get worse unless evsystem is able to attack them in the event that the eryone does something to stop it,” Simmons said. vaccinated individual is exposed to COVID-19. Even with a vaccine, the Centers for Disease “People are still having large gatherings and close Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly advises contact sports. Everyone needs to wear their masks that people continue to practice social distancing to protect others. If we don’t act on it, the pandemic and wear masks. It is unknown what percentage of will continue to get worse.” people must be vaccinated to allow for herd immunity, which is when a population becomes immune
Berserk and Ragnarok show strong future for robotics Robotics program continues to grow despite new challenges
T
he Vanguard Robotics program has grown significantly since its inaugural season in 2017. From humble beginnings, both teams 13053 (Berserk) and 12597 (Ragnarok) have become more than just great teams that can build intricate robots. These two teams have also created members with fantastic engineering skills, through Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and coding. So what does the robotics team do? Both teams participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) - a robotics competition for students from 7th through 12th grade. Each year, teams compete in groups of two called alliances in matches with robots that perform specific tasks to score points. There are a myriad of different tasks and challenges that these robots must accomplish, from stacking Legos like blocks to shooting disks in goals, and these challenges change each year. Vanguard is home to two robotics teams with a junior varsity and varsity system. Team
Ragnarok is the younger team where new members develop their skills in building and coding robots with the guidance of Zach Seifert, FIRST Robotics Coach. Team Berserk Robotics is the veteran team of the program. The mission of spreading STEM is equally important as competing in the robotics competitions. The competitions drive students to learn and discover new ways to improve their robots. One of the veteran members in the program is senior Adrian Northcutt. He entered the program as a freshman during the program’s first season. He had no experiences with CAD or coding prior to joining the team, but over the years, his engineering toolset has widened significantly. “Robotics has been a great experience through its hands-on approach for learning STEM,” Northcutt said. “I have learned more coding and mechanical engineering through developing and perfecting our robots.”
Hai Nguyen ‘21 guest columnist
The robotics teams also do outreach events, like visiting Baylor University’s Piper Center for Family Studies and Child Development and middle school students at Vanguard. COVID-19 has affected the program greatly. However, the team continues to grow. This season has been a successful year so far. Each team has doubled in size, from five members per team to ten members per team. In addition to the increased size, L3Harris has also sponsored the program as well. Though the season for robotics has changed Robotics team member Taemin Lee adjusts parts of his team’s robot with no in-person events or re- during class. Photo by Lucinda Liu / Bifrost Staff corded matches, the program’s future is bright.