Simply said, I am taking the vaccine for the same reason I take the flu shot: for my health and the health of others.

Firstly, I am taking the vaccine for me. I believe and trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) when they advise me to take it and am (anxiously) awaiting my turn. I believe that covid will continue to exist and mutate in one form or another causing sporadic local outbreaks and potentially require yearly boosters and that we will never quite get rid of it entirely. As a young and healthy 20-something without comorbidities, I will most likely survive covid. With that said, my body and I are happy to accept any and all help that we can get to fight off this disease. In the US alone, over half a million people have died from covid in the past year, putting it in the top 3 list of leading causes of death. Each of the 3 US-approved vaccines has been proven to prevent one of the top 3 leading causes of death. I’m taking the vaccine because I don’t want to die.

Secondly, I’m taking the vaccine for others. As far as spread, vaccinated people do get infected and can still spread the disease. However, it is “much harder for vaccinated people to get infected” and “most vaccinated people do not carry virus” (source).

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I am taking the vaccine because the risk to me is negligible and the reward is oh-so-high. I would even go as far as to say that the risk is nonexistent. Vaccines have existed for a long time. I have taken many vaccines. Some more than once because the US doesn’t recognize external immunization records and I was required to when my family immigrated. The covid vaccine is just another regular vaccine in the long line of vaccines in my life. It’s almost inconsequential and yet taking it will change everything.