Science and PR campaign back COVID-19 vaccinations

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Let’s prevent others from getting COVID-19 and becoming severely sick by getting the COVID-19 vaccine! The vaccine is becoming available to more people every single day. It is time to make a change and put a stop to COVID-19.

The US government, hospitals, and others are campaigning for citizens to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This is maybe the biggest and most important public relations campaign we’ve seen in years.

Getting the vaccine would potentially help students go back to the classroom and professionals back to their work environments. We should all get the vaccine so life can return to normal.

There are many benefits to getting the vaccination, says the Mayo Clinic.

• Prevent yourself from getting the virus.
• Prevent yourself from spreading the virus.
• Add to people in the community who are protected from getting the virus.
• Make it harder for the virus to spread.
• Contribute to herd immunity.
• Prevent the virus from replicating. This would allow it to mutate and potentially become resistant to more vaccines.

“I got the vaccine on February 23rd. I had a headache the first night. Next day fatigue and weeks/sore muscles. I saw symptoms 2 days after getting the shot. I recommend others get this vaccine because we need to stop this virus and people getting sick and dying” says Kelly Rathunde, manager at Subway.

There are three COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved according to the Mayo Clinic:

• Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine- It is 95% effective with symptoms. It is for people 16 and up. Two injections, 21 days apart. The second injection is given up to six weeks after the first.
• Moderna COVID-19 vaccine- It is 94% effective, with symptoms. It is for people 18 and up. It is two injections, 28 days apart. Second dose is given up to six weeks after the first.
• Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine- It was 66% in clinical trials, as of 14 days after vaccination. It was 85% effective with preventing severe disease and COVID-19 at least 28 days after vaccination. It is for people 18 and up, and is one injection.

“I got the vaccine December 17th and January 6th. I only had slight injection site soreness. It was less noticeable than the flu shot was. I wholeheartedly recommend getting the vaccine. It has reduced so much stress and anxiety I’ve had about going around my family. I feel proud to be a contributor” says Caitlyn Bartsch, student at SIU.

There are side effects to getting the COVID-19 vaccine. CDC.gov says there are common side effects. These are normal signs showing that your body is building protection. The side effects should go away after 2-4 days:

• Pain/swelling in the arm that got the shot.
• May get fever, chills, tiredness, and headache.

There are many benefits to getting the COVID-19 vaccine that outweigh the potential mild side effects. It does not interact or affect our DNA and is also a safer way to build protection.

“With the second shot I had symptoms. I felt under the weather and my arm hurt. I had polio; I know how bad it is not to have the shot. The disease is worse” said Joyce Suckerman, senior citizen.

Prevent COVID-19 and support your community by getting the vaccine.

To see if you are eligible to get vaccinated go to https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccine-distribution.

To get the COVID-19 shot in Carbondale, schedule an appointment at the Jackson County Health Department.