By: Amelia Citron and Rachel Stulman
Populations have always faced contagious and deadly illnesses. Since the first recorded form of vaccination in the 16th century, vaccines have been proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases. Vaccines not only protect individuals from illnesses, but they also protect entire communities.
Robert Montera, a Fieldston Upper School history teacher of over 30 years, he expressed that getting the COVID-19 vaccine is much more than just an individual decision and precaution.“An essential part of getting any vaccine is what you do for yourself, but it’s also what you do for others. This is a combination of both individual responsibility as well as social responsibility.” Without the COVID vaccine, the disease will continue to mutate. With more vaccinations, the country is closer to returning to normal life. Montera said “In order for the school to continue, and to keep the numbers low, this is one of the things that we willingly take part in.”
Soon after the release of the COVID vaccine, employers strongly encouraged the vaccination of eligible workers. Many companies did so by making vaccine appointments free, allowing paid time off work and offering childcare during the appointments according to the Biden Administration. These efforts contributed to an increase in vaccination numbers, which resulted in two important steps: the realization of how effective (and risk-free) vaccinations are, as cases were down and there were significantly less hospitalizations and deaths; and employers’ realization that a vaccine mandate was necessary action. The only way to achieve these steps was to put jobs on the line or to create positive incentives.
This plan was supported by President Joe Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic initiative in September. Although there are court challenges surrounding the federal government’s action, according to the New York Times, by January 4th, “Companies of 100 or more employees have to ensure all their workers are either fully vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and mandatory masking.” Some are speculating about a tactic used by many of these companies: making testing an inconvenient process, which discourages people from opting out of the vaccine alternative.
Challenges regarding religious exemptions are becoming increasingly difficult to avoid. Courts have been weighing in on this issue in recent weeks and have often sided with the employer. An impressive 72 percent of unvaccinated workers are projected to be vaccinated starting in January, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The General Counsel of New York City’s Public Hospital System, Andrea Cohen, spoke about the greater effect a vaccine mandate would have in our day-to-day life. “All of the places that we go are workplaces for someone–restaurants, stores, movie theaters and hospitals. By having all the workers there vaccinated and the majority of customers vaccinated, as they have jobs at many of those other places, it makes it safer for our world to return to a much more normal state.”
Since October 4, 2021, the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all NYC public school teachers and staff members has been in effect. The majority of NYC private schools have required their educators to be vaccinated since early October as well. Most NYC private schools require all students that are eligible to get the vaccine, however this is not yet a requirement for students attending public schools.
Science Department Chair and Fieldston’s pride and joy, Dr. Paul Church said: “In the United States there are a number of vaccines that are required in order for a child to attend public or private school such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, and several others.” For many years, it has been the law to receive various vaccines for school. Although there has always been a population against vaccinating children and vaccinations in general, the public has generally accepted this law. The COVID vaccine is no different from these other vaccines mandated for school. Church agreed: “It seems reasonable, that just like all these other vaccines, COVID-19 should be included amongst the diseases that a child is required to get vaccinated against. There is no reason why this particular threat to public health should be any different.” Now that all kids over the age of five are eligible for the vaccine, should the country expect the COVID vaccine to be a school vaccination requirement?
Homecoming, field trips, prom, concerts and theater productions. All of these school-related events are making their way back, slightly modified, into Fieldston’s school year after they were missed in the 2020-21 calendar. Without Fieldston’s vaccine mandate requiring all eligible students and staff to be vaccinated by October 1st, another year would have been missed. Recently, the senior class took a trip to an orchard as one of their first grade-wide bonding experiences after a year-and-a-half. Noah Greer (VI), a student that attended the trip, showed genuine excitement for it and the following events to come. He said, “Now’s a time to come together and make up for that lost time. As we get closer to a post-COVID world with the wide-spread use of vaccines, we can look forward to even more ‘normal’ trips.” With vaccine mandates in school and work environments, Fieldston is optimistic that everyone’s lives will be COVID-free soon.
