The reality of a viable vaccine has brought a new tool to the fight against COVID-19.
However the rollout of this vaccine has been slow.
For instance, in Nebraska there are currently four phases. In phase 1A, all the healthcare sector and the long-term care residents are being vaccinated with the first of two shots now.
Because the abbey is considered a long term care facility as many members are elderly and all living together the monks have already received their first dose of the vaccine. They plan to get their second dose on Feb 8. All staff that support them were also vaccinated, including the development office and Dr. Rzemyk.
Teachers were set to be vaccinated in the phase 1B, along with other essential workers and those over the age of 75. However the public health department decided to drop the age of the general population to those over the age of 65. This change pushed back teacher vaccinations.
“The teachers were originally scheduled to be vaccinated in February or March.” head of school Dr. David Peters said. “However, the health department has now added people to the list and it has pushed the teachers back a bit,” head of school Dave Peters said.
While, the covid vaccine, has been a relief for millions, it has been a struggle for the governments across the world.The logistics it will take for every country to get their population vaccinated is a struggle.
According to Cecile Gutscher and Srinivasan Sivabalan from Bloomberg news, Israel and the United Arab Emirates are distributing the vaccine the fastest. Both Israel and the U.A.E have invested significant amounts of money into their vaccination programs. The U.A.E has already vaccinated 15 percent of their population while Israel has vaccinated 28 percent of their population as of Jan. 28.
Latin America has struggled more with distribution. One big reason for this is the fact that there is no country in Latin America producing the vaccine
On December 23, 2020 Mexico received their first shipment of the covid vaccine from Pfzier, but there were only 3000 doses for a country with a population of 126.2 million people.
In Mexico the vaccination program will be free via the government and distributed by the military. But, since they only received 3000 Pfizer doses, Mexican citizens are starting to have some concerns about the vaccination program the government is planning.
“It is ridiculous to think that this is what the government is doing to get us vaccinated, is simply pathetic!” college student, Santiago Pérez said.
Mexico is a country known for its empathy when help is needed. Countless examples of the mexican spirit and how they help each other are the proof of this attitude the people take when a disaster happens in Mexico. Yet the government hasn’t really asked for the help of the people, or any kind of help at all most likely for political reasons.
“It is amazing to see how in the US, they have sent more vaccines to very small states and with very low populations, than some countries in South America and Africa,” Maite Icazuriaga said.
Brazil on the other hand received 5.5 million vaccines just in Sao Paulo, the region that was the most affected during the pandemic. They received their doses from the chinese laboratory Sinovac, differently from the rest of South America. Brazil has also received Pfizer doses, but the Sinovac shipment has been the biggest one so far.
Yet the President doesn’t want to get the vaccine, causing a lot of insecurity for the people, not just in Brazil but also for many people who saw the message he sent via twitter.
“I am going to say to you that I am not going to take it, it is my right. And I am sure that Parliament will not create difficulties for those who, by chance, do not want to take the vaccine,” Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro said.
While some people around the world are making negative propaganda about the vaccine because of its fast production, even though the World Health Organization has approved emergency use, overall most people are ready to be vaccinated.
For Journalism adviser Gina Fosco the vaccine could not come soon enough, on Jan. 20 she received a text from her father that both him and her mother were getting the vaccine that day
“I felt an absolute sense of relief, I didn’t even realize I was holding tension that they could get covid from me,” she said.
