Governor Jay Inslee and the Washington State Department of Health declared in a press conference that residents are in Phase 1A and Phase 1 Tier B1 of Washington State’s COVID-19 vaccination plan as of Jan. 19th, 2021. Individuals 65 or older and those who are over the age of 50 who live in a multigenerational household, will be eligible to receive the vaccine along with healthcare workers in high-risk settings. 

On Jan. 27th, 2021, a mass-vaccination clinic opened at the Spokane Arena as a collaborative attempt between CHAS Health, Spokane Public Facilities District, the Spokane Regional Health District, Washington State Department of Health, and the Washington State National Guard to distribute vaccines to qualified patients. 

“As soon as I possibly can, I will be getting the vaccine. Our options are limited for how we can return to a semi-normal life, and the vaccine sounds better than trying to wait out the pandemic,” SFCC student Jamie Southwell said. 

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are currently being distributed throughout Washington State. Both vaccines are administered in two doses, three weeks apart. Patients who have received the vaccine reported side effects that usually last several days. However, these side effects are more likely to occur after the second dose. 

After much debate, SFCC student Dena Strasser decided that they will get vaccinated.

“The benefits far outweigh the risks,”Strasser said.

SFCC student Amber Oosting participated in the Novavax trial which is confirmed to be 89% effective in protecting against COVID-19. The vaccine is proven to be 85.6% effective against the U.K. strain known as B.1.1.7 although this vaccine is only 49.4% effective against a new strain from South Africa.

“By getting the vaccine, the benefit is that I don’t die or have serious long-lasting health issues because I caught the disease,” Strasser said. “People who are experiencing severe side effects are a much smaller percentage than those dying or getting long term damage to their health. For me, it’s a no brainer.”

In clinical trials, the Pfizer vaccine was proven 95% effective. Out of the 43,000 Individuals who participated in the trials, 8.8% reported side effects that interfered with daily activities and 0.6% had serious medical issues after receiving the second dose.

“We’ve lost over half a million people as a country,” Oosting said. “Even with odds surviving it in the high 90%, people that have ‘survived’ are facing horrible long-term effects. That’s including severe heart, lung, and kidney damage. I’ll take vaccine symptoms of fatigue and muscle aches every day over irreparable damage.” 

Reported side effects of the vaccine include:

• Chills 
• Feeling unwell
• Fever
• Headache
• Injection site redness 
• Injection site swelling
• Joint pain 
• Muscle pain
• Nausea
• Swollen lymph nodes 
• Tiredness

“The beauty of science is that it’s true whether you believe it or not. That’s the beauty of living in the US; we get to choose,” said Strasser.

As the COVID-19 vaccine is administered throughout the United States, eventually it will be available to more people over time.