Will You Take The Covid-19 Vaccine?

By Tom Molloy

In this past fortnight both Pfizer and Moderna announced that their Covid-19 vaccines have efficacy rates of 95% and 94.5% respectively. Although some experts have said that we are still some time away from the vaccines being mainstream, it is most definitely good news. SIN asked some NUIG students about their hopes, fears, and other thoughts about a potential vaccine.

Darren, a third-year arts student, gave his opinion,

“Basically, I think that it’s promising but I’m not overly optimistic until the public actually start to get it. I wouldn’t put too much hope in this government though, but hopefully I’m wrong.”

Maebh compared getting the vaccine to doing an interview for your dream job, “a lovely hopeful thought, but you need to make sure you have other means of getting by until it actually happens.” Nonetheless, she was cautiously optimistic,

“The vaccine is a beacon of hope at the end of a dark and difficult year, but I think it’s still a little too soon to get overexcited about it. We thought we’d all be able to go back to on-campus teaching at the end of March 2020. It’s clear that, unfortunately, these things don’t always pan out as we hope they will.

Ireland’s population is ageing considerably, especially in rural areas, and I think it’s most important that the elderly and those with underlying health conditions are given the vaccine first. The safety of this vaccine, being brand-new, is of course a concern, but every medical procedure is new at some point and unfortunately if we want to properly eradicate Coronavirus, we’ll just have to trust the experts on this one.”

By Niamh Casey

The general consensus this year is that Christmas can’t come soon enough, and that mindset is very understandable. The sooner the festive season starts and there’s a reason to celebrate, the better.

The things we all associate with this time of year, like the Late Late Toy Show, cosy PJs and Christmas shopping, are things that give a lot of us great joy and a sense of merriment.

However, not unlike everything else at the moment, the majority of our Christmas shopping is all taking place online. Those in particular who chose to get a head start this year have so far made all of their purchases online, and that will likely remain the way people buy things until December 1st.

Currently, there is much speculation as to how much the country will actually open back up come the long awaited date, so a lot of individuals, including students, are not planning to hold out on starting their shopping until then. Having spoken with students, many agree that there are a lot of pros and cons to Christmas shopping this year. It seems that the main pro to having to shop online is the convenience of having everything at your fingertips.

Students say that the great thing with shopping online is that there is a site for quite literally everything and anything you can think of that you would want to buy. If you couldn’t find something you wanted to buy in local shops, there was always the option of searching the internet for it. If someone had a specific niche item in mind as a gift for someone, many would have turned to searching online anyways. You’re never not going to be able to find something online.

Arts student Chloe was concerned about the ‘antivaxxer’ movement taking advantage of people’s fears,

“People are scared because they think it’s too fast for vaccines to be ready and anti-vaxxers are honing in on that fear to spread misinformation about the vaccines which is terrible. I would hope the government and health officials would make sure to assure people that they are safe and have been tested.” She wanted to point out that getting the vaccine is not just about protecting ourselves but also protecting those who are unable to get it.

SIN also managed to get in touch with The Other Admin (TOA) and NUIG Gossip Girl (NGG) from online metaphorical office water cooler “NUIG Confessions”.

TOA was frank about his views,

“Obviously I’ll get it. We need a return to campus because the page desperately needs everyone back in the library, Sult, and lectures for the thirst posts.” TOA was also concerned about fringe elements, “Not looking forward to the anti-vaxxers in our inbox at all.”

Meanwhile, NGG was concerned with the impact 2020 is having on people’s mental health and the loneliness lockdown brings,

“We’ve seen a real trend emerge of students struggling with online learning and their mental health suffering because of that. I think we’ve all had a hard and lonely few months in lockdown and there’s a fear that without an actual vaccine we’ll just be in a perpetual cycle of lockdowns. I’d definitely get it to return to some sense of normal, I think we all miss friends and family.”

Gráinne, also a third year, found the idea of anyone being against a vaccine rather mystifying,

However, many students would agree that in previous years, they would have done the majority of their shopping physically, which was especially preferred if they were unsure as to what to get someone. Now with everything being online, you have to have a more specific item in mind in order to search for it, browsing shops for ideas is no longer possible. Because of this, many students say that the majority of the jolliness and excitement has gone out of Christmas shopping. People used to take trips up to Dublin, or into bigger towns and cities to do their shopping, or (possibly more accurately), as an excuse for a day out. Now with all purchases being online, it’s another thing students feel like they’re missing out on this year, and it’s easy to see why.

“The vaccine is what we’ve all been waiting for so we all can return to the things we miss. I don’t know how quickly it’ll become available to everyone, but I will take it once it does. I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to get it. If you’ve missed anything during lockdown surely you’d jump at the first opportunity to go back to it and the vaccine offers this opportunity.”

Gráinne agreed with NGG about the importance of loneliness, “Not being allowed to meet up with friends has been difficult. I really miss catching up with friends over a few drinks and being on the college campus attending lectures.

Darragh, a journalism student, was happy to affirm his trust in the experts, “I’ve enough trust in the people responsible for making [the vaccines] that they know

As well as feeling like they’re not getting the full shopping experience this Christmas, students also said that it is much more expensive this year in comparison to others. Students are finding that they are spending more money on each person. Many cite the reason being when you buy something online, it is not the same as physically handing over money, or even your card. Students find that they are inclined to make more purchases.

Another factor that is adding to this is the wait to actually receive your purchase. Obviously when you purchase something online, especially if it’s coming from overseas, there is a wait for it to actually arrive. So, students say that they are inclined to keep purchasing things online while they are waiting for their other items to be delivered. what they’re doing and have done enough research that a vaccine will be safe.” However, he expressed reservations about who might get a potential vaccine first,

“I fear [the vaccine] is going to go the same way a lot of other drugs do, where it’ll be cheap and easy to get here but prohibitively expensive in parts of Africa and Asia.”

There is a general consensus amongst the students SIN spoke to that they would be willing to take a Covid-19 vaccine should one become available mainly because of the unprecedented circumstances this virus has brought and the loneliness involved in adhering to government measures, but also that they hold some reservations about conspiracy theories and people being disenfran-

Christmas Shopping in Covid Times

chised when, and if, a vaccine is released.

Delivery estimation times are also very unreliable. One student said that everything they had already purchased had come much later than the expected date, which is another push for people to start shopping earlier this year. Naturally, courier companies and the postal service are inundated this year with packages, so it’s very understandable that things are arriving late. However, nobody wants to risk buying something and having it not arrive on time for Christmas. This is a big reason as to why students aren’t waiting to shop local this year.

Many students say that they have already got a lot of their Christmas shopping done, as they didn’t want to leave it all until the last minute. Especially with the uncertainty surrounding how much shops will be allowed to reopen come December 1st. Although a few have said that they plan to save some gift purchases for when the retail sector opens back up again.

People have said that if they know of a certain shop that will have specifically what they’re looking for, they will buy their item once the shop opens back up. Many students also say that they made the effort to support local shops by purchasing from them online, or at least purchasing from an Irish company.

However, for the majority, it was wherever was the easiest and cheapest place to buy from. It’s not that students don’t care about supporting local, it’s mostly down to the fact that they were just more inclined to shop online where they have before. Many businesses have only set up online platforms this year, and people are not as aware they exist.

It will be interesting to see if shops will be allowed to reopen for the Christmas season, and if so, for how long. Until then most students plan on making the best of the situation and continue to shop online for gifts.