If you can survive senior year, you don't need the vaccine (jk obviously)

 Ahhh.. Society has finally made it to the point where we're almost all becoming vaccinated (which is a good thing!). It's surreal to think that only a year ago things were starkly different; social distancing practices, sanitation methods, and the overall tone around COVID were all things of which were more intense a year ago. It's also starkly alarming to think that a year has passed...and where has it gotten us?

I recently received my first dose of the vaccine at the Mercedes-Benz stadium, and I most say...my experience, for getting a needle poked into my arm, was...awesome?

I know that shots in general are no one's favorite activity, but the stigmas that are surrounding the vaccine are a bit inflated. For instance, the creation of memes with people turning into disgusting creatures after they take the vaccine do not help the public feel confident in taking the vaccine. It's a small detail for sure, but memes and other comedic posts do play a subconscious role in the fear of the vaccine. 

In addition, the new news surrounding the Johnson & Johnson vaccine being linked to an increased risk of getting blood clots has further pushed people away from getting vaccinated...and I can speak from personal experience. As a black female, my mother has (understandably so) always been weary of receiving any sort of vaccination. With that being said, when the news regarding issues with the J&J vaccine came out, she immediately called off her mental note to get vaccinated. All contemplation over it was lost in the sea of wishful thinking; I proceeded to tell her that it was a very small number of people who got clots AND that it wouldn't matter because she would be receiving the Pfizer dose anyway. Nonetheless, she resisted my statements and refused to get vaccinated until almost everyone had. And this is the problem.

People are waiting to "see" results. If people keep waiting to get vaccinated until "everyone" gets vaccinated, then there will never be an "everyone" that is vaccinated. Confidence in the vaccine is needed within small pockets of communities that are lacking in vaccinations, and I think this can be done by the exposer of factual data and findings with a straightforward message of "this is safe".