A covid-19 vaccine is here and I’m sure it sounds scary to most people, but just because people fear the worst doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. It can potentially be a good thing if it’s able to put the covid-19 pandemic behind us.

The CDC posted an article called Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines, stating that luckily none of the COVID-19 vaccines currently in development in the United States use the live virus that causes COVID-19; the U.S. vaccines use mRNA to mimic the virus proteins in your system. There are several different types of vaccines in development. However, the goal for each of them is to teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19.

A nurse in New York was among the first people in the US to get an authorized coronavirus vaccine. An interesting fact is that employers can force a vaccine if you’re going to be employed under them. It is a little scary to think that you might lose your job because you’re not vaccinated, but luckily the vaccine process has not given any reason to distrust it. Though sadly, it’s the same aspect on the flip side, as there’s not a lot of reasons to trust it. But the benefits of taking it outweigh the risks because it could potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives.

Going back to the topic of employers forcing vaccinations; it is 100% in the employers’ rights unless it’s discrimination against employees. Although there are certain counters to those rights—such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against employees, reported Helen Rella, a lawyer on ABC News.

I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to get the vaccine because there haven’t been any signs of it being dangerous yet, and when it comes down to it, you can’t just think about yourself. You have to consider the elderly and the children because they’re the ones most affected by this pandemic. And to think that we’re this close to a great step forward in putting covid-19 behind all of us, to see our friends and family again, and to get to live our lives again, is the dream, of course. There are certain conditions where people can’t get the vaccine because of certain allergies or conditions, but for those of us who can, we must do all we can to ensure the safety of future generations.

I talked with some students about their opinions on employers forcing employees to get the vaccine: Jack Bopp said, ‘’I believe it is against basic human rights and it’s discriminatory against religion.’’

Karen Bopp, Jack’s mother, had a very different opinion, adding, ‘’I believe that an employer should have the right to keep the rest of the employees safe, especially in jobs that contain medical reasons such as doctors or firefighters.”

My last source was Sarah Ortiz, a teacher at our very own Doherty High School, who said, “Although I agree with vaccines, I don’t believe from a teacher’s perspective that teachers should be forced to get the vaccine by their employer.’’

It seems that most believe that the vaccine shouldn’t be forced, but in some scenarios, I agree that it should be—such as being a doctor or a firefighter in order to protect the most lives possible.