Why we support a COVID-19 vaccination requirement?

by Qué Pasa Team Office of Diversity and Inclusion

The Qué Pasa editorial team supports Ohio State’s vaccination policy. Our reasons are personal, and we share them with you:

To Do My Part

Rolando Rubalcava, Department of English

I read an article last year in July. It wasn’t really an article, as it was a list of names: Healthcare workers who lost their lives to COVID while on the frontlines of the pandemic. I was angry, heartbroken, shrunken by despair. I’m not an epidemiologist, or in the healthcare industry, so what can I do about this? Getting the vaccine helped provide that opportunity to do my part. Once I got it, I became a huge vaccine advocate. My parents got it, my siblings, and many of my friends got it shortly after. After my second shot, one of the first things I did was fly home and see people the CDC said I should stay socially distant from until after getting vaccinated. Hugging loved ones almost started to feel linke a lost traditions. I don’t know how our new sense of normal will shape into. All I know is that some really smart people got together and made it possible to feel normal again, whatever that ever meant.

Soulmates

Luiza Correa, Department of Design

Getting the vaccine shot was an act of love for myself and my friends, my community. How could I be happy, feel nurtured and successful without having their company? How could I stand the chance of being the source of their infection? My fam is my family here, they are my soul mates. Going through graduate school without them would be just impossible!”

For Family and Friends

Jessica Rivera, Department of Educational Studies

During the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was very nervous about getting COVID because I wasn’t sure how my body would react to the virus. Hearing that so many people were dying from this virus increased the anxiety that I was already feeling. Because people in my family have compromised immune systems, I was also nervous about what could happen if they contracted the virus. Although I was worried about getting the vaccine, I realized that I would be more stressed out if I didn’t get it. Getting the vaccine has allowed me to have a peace of mind when traveling to visit family and friends. Recently I learned that one of my sister's friends and her mom ended up in the hospital with COVID. Unfortunately, they both had not received the vaccine because of misinformation from their church. A couple of days ago, the mom passed away. It has made me realize how serious this virus is and how important it is to protect yourself against it.

Creating the world I want to live in

Yolanda Zepeda, Office of Diversity and Inclusion

We create the world we live in. The world I want to live in is a world where each of us does what we can to make all of us healthier and happier. Getting a vaccine to eliminate COVID is such a tiny effort when weighed against the 700,000 deaths it has caused in the US. COVID doesn’t discriminate, but we know that our health care systems, environmental risks, and mortality patterns do. I want to create a world where life chances are not determined by race or class or any other demographic. The vaccine will help us eliminate COVID and help reduce its destructive impact on our most vulnerable families, neighbors, and friends. If we each get the vaccine, then we all create a world where we all can be healthier and happier.