COVID-19 vaccination may be a personal choice, but with the return to face-to-face classes weighing on one’s vaccination status, the decision to get the jab for grade-nine student, Vivicka McLean, was an easy one.

Speaking with Our Today, Vivicka explained that though she was in fact hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it first arrived in country, there were two main factors that eventually led her to take the jab.

The first was the increased number of persons worldwide who had died from coronavirus-related complications, and the second was her very real desire to return to the physical classroom by any means necessary.

“Everyone is dying and I don’t want to die,” said Vivicka on why she took the shot.

She continued: “You have to be vaccinated in order to return to school, so I took the shot, so I could attend face-to-face classes.”

Now in her third year of high school and having already been robbed of over a year’s worth of face-to-face instruction, the Belmont Academy student relayed that she would not be able to survive another year of virtual schooling.

“I couldn’t deal with it,” said the 14-year-old. “I think learning would be much easier if classes were face to face and I would be better able to understand the material in an in-person setting.”

Highlighting one of the major challenges she faced during the last 18 months of online learning, Vivicka explained that many of her teachers struggled to properly utilize the online interface, negatively impacting how well students were able to grasp what was being taught.

Now, with schools continuing online learning modalities as they await the Education Ministry’s approval for face to face classes, Vivicka noted that not much has changed, “My teachers are still struggling to use the online modality.”

Despite her efforts to be vaccinated against COVID-19 so she and her friends can once again be reunited in person, Vivicka and her classmates will have to wait a while longer for physical classrooms to reopen.

Having indicated in August, that individual schools will need to achieve a 65 per cent or higher vaccination rate to be considered for face-to-face class approval, the Education Ministry, during a post-Cabinet press briefing held on Wednesday (September 22), articulated that this position remains unchanged despite the challenges facing the nation’s Pfizer vaccine supply.

The country was on September 15 forced to suspend the administration of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine due to insufficient supplies of the jab in country.

Speaking to the suspension, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton in a press briefing on Tuesday (September 14), explained that the ministry had not been made aware of how soon a second shipment of the Pfizer vaccines could be expected from the United States government.

The Pfizer vaccine is currently the only vaccine that has been given approval for administration to persons under the age of 18.

READ MORE:

• Vaxxed teacher says he got COVID-19 jab for his students
• Face-to-face delayed as Jamaica awaits Pfizer shipments