Salisbury University students cited medical, religious and moral reasons for remaining unvaccinated.
While the majority of SU’s community is vaccinated, assumptions should not be made against the minority who weighed their options and chose for themselves.
Why has a small percentage of students remained unvaccinated?
Junior Hannah Herche said she did not get vaccinated after consulting her doctor regarding her proneness to Complex Hemiplegic Migraines. This condition can cause her to hallucinate and become partially paralyzed.
“People who suffer from chronic migraines may experience [migraines]” within 36 hours of receiving a COVID vaccine, according to Virginia Spine Institute.
Herche is also concerned that “COVID has blown up into something that is [instilling] fear in people. I think it has become more politically driven.”
Junior Andrew Arnold said he did not receive a vaccine because there was a lack of experimentation time, unlike other vaccines, before being released to the public.
Arnold feels that the treatment “could not have benefitted me as much as it may have with older [individuals] because they are at a higher risk [with COVID].”
“Despite the fast timeline, [COVID] vaccines went through the appropriate clinical trials, just like other vaccines before,” according to Nebraska Medicine.
However, both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals can spread or contract the disease, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Sophomore Sofia Sergi stressed that “[God] granted free will to make [her] own decisions” when asked why she was unvaccinated.
Sergi recognized the risk that came with her decision. She even contracted COVID herself.
However, Sergi stressed that “there is no reason for [so] many restrictions, especially when the survival rates are so high.”
The current seven-day moving average of new deaths from COVID-19 during early Sept. 2021 was 11.1% lower than July 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sergi also claimed to know people “who [experienced] adverse effects to [vaccines, including] anaphylaxis.”
Only 21 out of the first 1,893,360 recipients of the Pfizer vaccine administered during Dec. 2020 experienced anaphylaxis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sergi stressed she did not want her vaccination status to cloud her personal image. She said she made her choice with no harmful intent to others.
By SERAPHINA BARBERIO
Staff writer
Featured photo courtesy of Ben Lausch