United States Speeds Up Vaccine Distribution
By Fiona Burton ‘23
After one year of masks, social distancing, and quarantine, the United States is finally edging back to pre-pandemic life. An estimated 19% of the U.S. population has been vaccinated as of March 11th, 2021. If this trend continues, 50% of the population will be vaccinated by late May, and 90% of the population will be vaccinated by late September 1st. On March 11th, President Biden delivered remarks on the first anniversary of the pandemic where he introduced a new vaccination timeline: “July 4th with your loved ones is the goal.”
Connecticut has sped up vaccine distribution and has one of the highest vaccination percentages in the country (as of April 26th, 53% have been given their first shot, and 36% are fully vaccinated). Currently, people 16 years and older are eligible to be vaccinated in Connecticut. Vaccination sites have been set up across the state, including cities such as Hartford, Bridgeport, and Stamford.
The FDA recently approved the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. The single-shot vaccine was found to be 66.3% effective in clinical trials, in contrast to the Moderna vaccine's 94.1% efficacy and the Pfizer vaccine's 95%.
During the clinical trials, white males made up the majority of testing subjects. According to the CDC, Pfizer's clinical trials were “81.9% White, 26.2% Hispanic/Latino, 9.8% African American, 4.4% Asian, and <3% other races/ethnicities.” This data is causing some concern amongst medical experts because communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the virus, yet are overwhelmingly underrepresented in vaccine trials.
Vaccine distribution is underway within the GFA community. Most faculty and staff members have been fully vaccinated, and many students aged sixteen and older have received their first dose. Nurse Raby hopes to have all faculty members and staff vaccinated by the end of May and have older students vaccinated by September, with an end goal of most of the GFA community being vaccinated by October. Currently, the GFA health department does not expect vaccination to be mandatory next school year.
“You may have heard some colleges are saying students must be vaccinated before they come back in the Fall,” stated Ms. McGill.
“I think it more so would be colleges because of the way the living situation is there... I know that Bob Whelan has always said that if we get 80% herd immunity, then we’ll be in good shape,” added Nurse Raby.
The school is not recommending a particular brand of vaccine to the community. Instead, it suggests that teachers and students sign up for a vaccine appointment as soon as possible with any brand. “We were just telling people whichever appointment you can get for whatever shot, go.,, Our numbers were not doing great before, and we had another surge in Connecticut, so we were trying to keep up with that by getting people vaccinated,” said Nurse Raby. Once teachers and students get vaccinated, they are not obligated to inform the school of their vaccination due to privacy protection. However, the GFA health department finds vaccination information helpful and encourages community members to share if possible.
“We’re hearing of a lot of upper schoolers who are getting the vaccine. So far, very few families have sent in their vaccine dates so that we can document it and try to keep reports on how many are vaccinated. So that would be helpful for us…” said Ms. McGill.
For the rest of the year, Nurse Raby advised students to "Get the vaccine, wear your mask… Stay socially distanced outside of your immediate pods." Ms. McGill agreed, adding that "Don't be afraid of the vaccine… a mask is our magic ticket to getting through this."
