After nearly a year of quarantine, vaccines are finally available for all except children. A month after the first vaccine rollout, vaccines are finally ready for teenagers ages 16 and older providing hope for many, as students and teachers await the reopening of schools that may now be possible.  Some still have reservations about the vaccination, and dispute whether social distancing should continue to be enforced.

When vaccines became available to people 16 and up, the availability was met with mostly positive reactions from students and teachers. 

“I believe everyone should take the vaccine as soon as possible,” speech teacher Ricardo Jordan said. 

Hesitation to get the vaccine is low t as most people are willing to get vaccinated.

“A vaccine is a vaccine, I’m sure the scientists worked hard to research it, so it’s worth taking,” junior Jessica Liu from Silva High School said. 

 Some do harbor mistrust of the vaccine.

“I feel like it was rushed,” Franklin High School junior, Jose Lopez said.

 There are also some unable to get the vaccine due to pre-existing conditions. 

“I am not going to take the vaccine because I have allergies,” Lopez said.  

Out of the three vaccines, students are more keen to get the Pfizer vaccine over Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, which many are hesitant to get due to the risk of blood clots. So far, reactions from the vaccine have been minimal.

“It just gave me a sore arm, with a bad lethargy from the second dose,” Liu said.

With the vaccines, many are hopeful about returning to school. 

“Having the vaccine is a game changer. Since I have been fully vaccinated, I have been able to teach like myself again,” Jordan said.

Many have concerns about whether or not safety guidelines should still be followed after vaccination.

“No vaccine is 100 percent but if we keep following the safety protocols it just makes sure that we are even safer,” Jordan said.