COVID-19 ruled over our lives for the entirety of 2020. Now, we wear masks. We can't do activities we used to be able to. School was online, and we suffered through Zoom calls with teachers who were mostly inexperienced with tech, and with students who paid less attention than they did before. COVID was suffocating us and had full control over everything we did. There was nothing we could do but mask up, isolate, and stay safe. After months of waiting, a remedy came in the form of the COVID vaccine. It was the saving grace to get us out of this pandemic. 

Yet, not everyone accepted the vaccine with open arms. There has been a more apparent divide between the people of the U.S. concerning vaccination. The split on how to handle COVID transcends just the vaccine. Federal and state governments have been debating on issues such as mask mandates, restrictions, and vaccinations for over a year now. Studies show that anti-vaccine rhetoric can be dangerous, in a research paper by Fredrico Germani, and Nikola Biller-Andorno they state this "based on these results, we welcome policies that aim at halting the circulation of false information about vaccines by targeting the anti-vaccination community on Twitter." False information spread online can be dangerous and have consequences that affect everyone. Most of us thought that the pandemic would come to a close. But, due to reckless actions and a lack of understanding, the pandemic was not ending, but only just beginning. 

Freshman Khushi Agrawal is a supporter of vaccines. "I've been fully vaccinated," she said, "I got vaccinated like a couple of days after it was approved for my age group." 

Divisiveness over the vaccine has caused relationships to be skewed and friendships to be lost. Agrawal has personally dealt with this. She described a disagreement with a friedns. "Of course, he had his facts too that he had from other sources," she said, "but then I gave him specific websites. I said, the CDC says this, please do your research on credible resourses. He ended up never changing his mind, and so I don't talk to him anymore." Conversation on the vaccine can end friendships. Freshman Taylor Thomas has had a different experience with relationships and opinions on the vaccine. "I don't really care if someone's vaccinated or not," she said. "Because I try to respect everyone's opinions on things."

COVID vaccination has also produced a spread of misinformation, especially online. With social media apps such as Instagram and Facebook, there are a lot of false facts that overshadow real information. Amidst a controversial crisis, it's common for individual ideas to be heavily influenced by the public opinion. This can be both helpful and harmful. The promotion of scientific thought is beneficial because ir makes correct information more accessible. However, when these ideas become mainstream, they face the danger of misinterpretation and censure. Senior Hugo Ennis has seen this informational battle for himself, "I understand fear towards the government, but at the same time, I feel that not getting a vaccine because of something you read on the internet or Facebook is childish." 

The question on mandating vaccines has been a hot topic for schools and districts nationwide. In states such as California and Louisiana, vaccines are mandated if the age group receives full FDA approval. On the other hand, states such as Montana and Ohio have banned vaccine mandates. 

Agrawal supports mandating vaccines, "I'd be extremely supportive of that," she said. "I think most public schools already mandate certain vaccines, because there's certain vaccines that we get at birth." The district does mandate certain vaccines. It requires seventh through 12th graders several doses of the Hepatitis B vaccine, DTap and Tdap (Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), the Polio vaccine, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), and the Varicella vaccine. 

Senior Hugo Ennis (left) and freshman Khushi Agrawal are both fully vaccinated and in favor of a vaccine