In an online survey conducted by Naguenian, it was revealed that 90% of Naga City Science High School (NCSHS) students are already fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 before the year 2021 ends.
The survey with a total of 492 respondents found that 441 (90%) of the respondents are now fully vaccinated, 21 (4%) are partially vaccinated, and 28 (6%) are not vaccinated at all.
The common reason as to why the vaccinated students chose to get the vaccine is for them to have protection against COVID-19.
Most respondents believe that getting the vaccine is important to increase their immunity, help curb the spread of the virus,potentially put an end to the pandemic,and bring the normal way of living back.
“Vaccination, for me, is very important because from what I can see, it is the only way for us to achieve herd immunity. And if we achieve that immunity, we could slowly go back to where we were before and eventually have our normal lives back,” a Grade 12 respondent stated.
“Though some staunchly oppose it, I believe that having yourself vaccinated means that you’re also helping to prevent rapid transfer of virus. It can keep us away from being infected,” another respondent said.
In addition, the majority of the unvaccinated students plan to get vaccinated before the end of the year or sometime next year. Their reasons for not yet availing the vaccine include lack of time or not being qualified yet to get the vaccine.
Meanwhile, some of the unvaccinated students are still not willing and oppose getting vaccinated because, according to them, there is a lack of assurance that the vaccine is 100% safe and effective.
“We are not sure if the vaccine is safe,” said one of the unvaccinated respondents.
Another also stated that vaccination is no longer important with the emergence of the omicron variant and the scientific findings that the present vaccines are less effective in combating it.
Nevertheless, getting the vaccine against COVID-19 is still highly encouraged by the Department of Health (DOH) as this remains as the best human protection from the said virus.
Pediatric vaccination for children aged 12 to 17 are still being administered and vaccination for those aged 11 and below are expected to begin in 2022.
