Vaccination at Masterman

With the Pfizer vaccine approved for all minors above the age of 12, schools and public health officials have been encouraging students to get vaccinated. Vaccinations (walk-in and scheduled) are offered in various locations around the city, from the Convention Center to doctor’s offices to pharmacies.

According to the New York Times, about 29% of minors in Pennsylvania (as of June 4th) from the age of 12 to 17 have received at least one dose.

To get a general impression of how Masterman students feel about the vaccine, Voices surveyed both the middle school and the high school. We received 137 responses from Masterman students (6th grade and up) in regards to their vaccination status.

Results & Interviews:

1. Did you get vaccinated?

Out of 137 respondents, (55 students) 40.15% are fully vaccinated, (50 students) 36.50% have received one dose, (9 students) 6.57% have scheduled an appointment scheduled to receive the vaccine, and (23 students) 16.78% have not been vaccinated.

2. If you have not received your vaccine, can you tell us why?

Out of the 16.78% that have not received the vaccine, (12 students) 52.17% have not had the time to receive the vaccine, (1 student) 4.35% said there weren’t any accessible locations, (9 students) 39.13% noted that they were too young to receive the vaccine, and were hoping to receive it once they turn of age.

One student told us, “I am concerned that this is an experimental vaccine, and that data about its safety is very limited. The current safety trials will not conclude until 2023. For a young person like me, the chances of getting severe symptoms or complications from COVID-19 are very low. Large-scale studies have also shown that asymptomatic transmission is rare, so if I have symptoms that could be COVID, I would stay home. In my opinion, the payoff of the vaccine is too small to account for the greater possible risk of this vaccine as compared to others.”

3. How would you describe your overall experience?

When it comes to efficiency, (73 students) 69.52% of students were able to get vaccinated in less than 15 minutes, (15 students) 14.29% waited 15-30 minutes, and (7 students) 6.67% of students waited 1 hour or more. Two students who waited over 2 hours noted that they were vaccinated in March when the vaccine was only distributed at a limited amount of locations.

In our follow-up interview, all the interviewees spoke positively about their experience. Marisa Maisano (8-3) told us, “Besides the fact that I am absolutely terrified of needles, I would say it went pretty well. I went during some async periods, and I didn't have to wait at all.” There was unanimous agreement that there was virtually no wait time and everyone involved in the process seemed professional and approachable. “The people who were there were very nice— there was always someone who would greet me when I entered the building and the nurses/people in the military were really bubbly (at least the people who I interacted with were),” Annetta Yuwono (11-4) recalled.

4. Did you have any side effects after getting vaccinated? How long did they last? Were they severe?

Our interviewees experienced varying levels of side effects, ranging from minimal side effects that lasted a couple of hours to severe side effects that persisted for a few days.

“I wasn’t expecting to be hit as hard as I was with the side effects. About ten hours after the first dose I felt really lethargic and had a slight fever, but neither of those symptoms lasted long. The next day I was completely fine. The second dose was worse; I had a high fever, a headache, I was really tired, everything hurt. I missed school and was sick all day, so I’d say my reaction to the vaccine was pretty severe. The weird thing was that I woke up the next morning feeling like nothing had ever happened. Usually, when you’re sick it takes a few days for all of the symptoms to go away, but if it weren’t for my arm being sore, the whole experience might as well have been a dream,” Sylvia Erdely (10-4) said.

Other students also recalled experiencing fevers and headaches, but the most common symptoms consisted of temporary body pain, chills, drowsiness, and a sore arm that lasted about three days. For Josephine Hong-Goranin’s family and friends (6th grade), symptoms only appeared after the second vaccine and lasted for a day.

5. Do you feel like it is necessary to receive the vaccine? On a scale of 1-5, how strongly do you believe in the importance of getting vaccinated?

Many believed that getting vaccinated was crucial and necessary enough to warrant a 5 on the scale. From Rishab Das (7-1) and Kato Mangum (9th grade), we heard about how getting vaccinated can allow us as a community to get one step closer to herd immunity and some form of normalcy.

Others agreed that getting vaccinated benefitted not only the receiver but also those around them. “I think that getting the vaccine makes me feel more protected. It kind of diminishes the fear of getting the virus; there’s a certain liberty that comes with getting the vaccine,” Annetta said. It would be able to give people the confidence they need to interact with each other and serves as a precautionary measure for those who are more susceptible and vulnerable to the virus. Similarly, Sylvia told us, “Getting vaccinated isn’t just an act of protection but a service to others, which makes it all the more essential. At the end of the day, some people will choose not to get the vaccine, and I’m trying not to judge because they have their reasons. With herd immunity, the unvaccinated will have some protection, but in my eyes getting vaccinated is part of our social responsibility to protect each other.”

Mtab also shared with us, “I think it’s super important to get vaccinated especially when it’s become so widely available so a 5 on the scale. I looked at my family living in other places where vaccines are really hard to get and it felt like a disservice to them to not get vaccinated. I think vaccination is definitely the biggest step towards getting everything back to normal.”