Fair Grove Students Getting Vaccinated

Some students at Fair Grove High School have been given the opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine now that vaccinations have been opened up to the public. 

Chris Stallings, Fair Grove High Schools principal, told that currently, teachers are not being required to take the vaccine, but opportunities are open through the school for the teachers who would like to get the vaccine. Students are also not currently required to get the vaccine. Stallings said, “We will continue to allow the CDC and Greene County Health Department to take the lead on pushing this message and allow families to decide what is best for their situation.”

Mitchell Van Cleave (12) has received both doses of the Moderna Vaccine. That vaccine has been known to cause fevers in some who get it but Van Cleave did not have any side effects after either round of the vaccine. Van Cleave noted, “I wanted to get the vaccine as soon as it was offered to me. I work at a nursing home, so I was in the first round of people to receive the vaccine.”  

“Once my boss gave me the papers, I was immediately ready to get on with it. Why wouldn’t I want the vaccine? It’s the main thing we’re waiting for to get back to norma,” Van Cleave continued.

Cooper Zumwalt (10) has only received the first round of the Pfizer Vaccine. The only side effect he had was a sore arm for the rest of that day. 

“I decided to get the vaccine because I wanted to not only protect myself from the virus, but also prevent the spread from my friends and family members. I also decided to get it so that I could return to a lot of the previously ‘covid unsafe’ activities that I haven’t been able to participate in since March of 2020,” Zumwalt stated.

Other students like Andrew Shurtz (10) and Colton Louthan (10) haven’t gotten the vaccine because it isn’t a priority for them or they don’t feel comfortable receiving the vaccine at this point in time. 

Shurtz expressed that he thinks older people and people within the medical field should get the vaccine and anyone else shouldn’t have to get the vaccine unless they want to. Louthan elaborated, “I don’t care whether someone gets vaccinated or not. It’s their choice at this moment in time because the vaccination is so new.”

Zumwalt recommends that his peers get vaccinated. He continued to say it was an easy process to get, and he thinks it will pay off in the long run. Van Cleave also thinks that others should get vaccinated.

“I think everyone with the ability to get the vaccine should. There’s a reason that we don’t have an issue with tuberculosis anymore, and it’s because a vaccine was developed. If enough people get the vaccine, in a couple years COVID should be nothing more than a memory,” Van Cleave stated.

What is in question is if the vaccine will eliminate that mask mandates. Stallings explained that the school’s Board of Education will continue to look at the Greene County Health Departments recommendations regarding masks for the remainder of this year and possibly for next year.  

Zumwalt believes that the vaccine will help get rid of masks in the school as well as helping the number of cases in the community go down and increasing public health. Louthan believes that when a certain percentage of the population gets vaccinated then it will in turn end the mask ordinances. Van Cleave spoke, “I think the vaccine should eradicate the mask mandates. I’m no public health expert by any means, but if we’re not waiting for the vaccine, what are we waiting for? I’m sure that it will be a slow process for the world to go back to being maskless, but the vaccine should be the main reason for that to happen.”