Local Students Share Thoughts
BEIJING – Many local students are anxiously waiting for a vaccine developed in the last year, hoping it will release them from the coronavirus.
Recently, the first vaccines for preventing the virus have finally been developed. Grownups and even local students are all glad, because the virus brought lots of changes and inconveniences to their usual daily life.
The virus had infected over 107 million people and caused over 2.3 million deaths by February 11, according to the World Health Organization. It made us stay at home most of the time, stop gathering with people, and wear masks every time we went out to prevent us from being infected.
“I cannot go anywhere I want, I have to stop gathering with friends and attending activities, and also we have to have lots of classes online,” said Jingxi Sun, a student from an art class in Beijing.
Because of the important benefits the vaccines give us, a vast majority of local students and their parents agree that we need to take the vaccines.
“I think it will really work well. It will let us overcome the virus quickly, maybe after half a year, although it will not disappear completely. But at least we can let the virus be under control. It is safe too, if you ask me. Scientists and doctors have tested it many times, and it has scientific approval,” said Mr.Feng, a student’s parent who has already signed up to take the vaccine.
Supporters of the vaccines think these shots are not only important for their safety, but also for the safety of others. Vaccines may stop the virus from causing an outbreak again.
However, some people and even some of our local students voiced concern that there might be side effects, because vaccine development was rushed in our COVID-19 crisis.
“The vaccine might work, but I won’t take it anyways, ” said Harry Wei, a student from Peking University Elementary School. “Because I cannot be sure if it is absolutely trustworthy. “
So how exactly does a vaccine work?
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics website, vaccines are substances that prevent us from getting sick and stop the spread of diseases. A vaccine tricks the body into thinking it is under assault, and the immune system makes weapons that will provide a defense when a real infection becomes a threat. Giving vaccines to people can save millions of lives and can even prevent illnesses that are dangerous or sometimes deadly. For instance, smallpox killed nearly 300 million people in the 1900s, but by 1979, the disease had disappeared. Measles, mumps, tetanus, and polio were once common diseases too, but because of vaccines, these illnesses became rare.Local students and parents presented some different views on how effective and safe the coronavirus vaccines are. Some hold that the vaccines are extremely important, while some are concerned over how trustworthy they are. But even though we have different ideas of the vaccine, we all want the virus to disappear completely. In my opinion, I believe that the vaccine has been tested many times and it will really work well in treating the virus. Taking the vaccine will not only be protecting our own lives, but also the safety of people around us. I am sure we can soon overcome the coronavirus!