The spirits of Paly students are looking up as those 16 years old and older are receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. As of April 13, 2021, many Paly students are now eligible to get vaccinated and have taken the initiative to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

Santa Clara County has opened up vaccination spots at Levi’s Stadium and certain pharmacies. Paly sophomore, Jess Watanabe, received her vaccination at Levi’s Stadium. “The actual shot was very quick and did not hurt as much as I thought it would,” Watanabe said.

Levi’s Stadium has broken a record in the state of the most amount of shots distributed in a day with 12,000 shots. Similar to Watanabe, I also got my vaccine from Levi’s Stadium and was shocked by the amount of people streaming in to get their vaccination shot. 

Currently, only the Pfizer vaccine is available for children 16 and 17 years old, and it requires two doses. The Pfizer vaccine is a messenger RNA vaccine and “was 95% effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people without evidence of previous infection” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Along with Watanabe, Paly sophomore, Yash Shetty, also got vaccinated. “I felt far more safe, both for myself, and my family,” Shetty said. The vaccination has relieved some amount of anxiety for students and has helped us to look for a path forward. 

With summer just around the corner, some students are even planning to meet up with family and friends they have not seen in a while. Paly sophomore, Grace Corrigan, said, “Once I have my second dose I will finally be able to visit my family.” 

Furthermore, as students can attend Paly in-person four days a week, students who are vaccinated feel more comfortable doing so. 

“I feel like the school has a good system set up where everybody can be a comfortable distance apart, and having my vaccine is just another layer of safety I now have,” said Paly senior, Emily Yao.

Although the experience differs per person, it seems that the vaccine is the first step we can take to move the world forward. “It is important for all of us to do our part in order for everything to go back to a state of normalcy,” said Paly sophomore, Sara Lamarque. 

Locations:

Mountain View Community Center

Open for drop-ins: Tuesday, April 27 through Friday, April 30, 8:30 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.

Levi’s Stadium: