As we have been continuing the 2021-2022 school year, many LHS students still have chosen not to be vaccinated against Covid 19.

According to LHS School Nurse Bonnie Keckler, as of October 28 only 42% of our entire school had been vaccinated and 58% have not been.  

We broke it down by grade and asked some students their opinions.

There are a total of 459 freshmen and 275 have not been vaccinated, and only 184 have been vaccinated. 

Freshman Lyndzey Keefe has chosen not to be vaccinated because she doesn’t trust it due to the symptoms. “I wouldn’t want to risk getting a severe injury, and I believe it’s not advanced enough to be given to people yet,” said Lyndzey. Her grandmother has tried to convince her,  but she has come to the conclusion that if nothing happens to those who are vaccinated she will eventually be getting vaccinated. 

LHS has a total of 454 sophomores with 257 unvaccinated.

Sophomore Leighlan Rios has chosen not to be vaccinated because he hasn’t gotten a chance to get vaccinated and feels safe without it. Leighlan feels safe without it because he doesn’t think the vaccine has been around for a long enough period of time to be giving it to people. Leighlan said,  “I don’t believe in this vaccination because I believe there’s not enough research yet.”

There are a total of 454 juniors. Only 207 juniors have been vaccinated, while 247 juniors have not. 

Junior Melanie Chamorro-Gonzalez chose to be vaccinated. She was hesitant at first, but then decided to research about the vaccine with her sister which then resulted in her getting the vaccine. She decided to get the vaccine to protect herself and the people around her. Melanie said, “My mother actually also convinced me to just in case.” 

On the other hand, junior Jasmine Gonzalez has chosen not to be vaccinated because she personally hasn’t heard very positive things about the vaccine, but is planning on doing more research herself. Jasmine’s grandmother has tried to convince her to get the vaccine, but she is still thinking about whether she should or not. Jasmine said, “I think I may get the vaccine because if I want to travel I may need to show my vaccine card in order to get into places.”

Finally, there are 464 seniors at LHS. Only 200 seniors have been vaccinated, leaving 264 unvaccinated. 

Senior Anderson Jean is one of 200 seniors who are vaccinated. He didn’t willingly decide to get the vaccine,  his mother was the one to actually convinced him to get it.  Anderson said,” I don’t believe it works because you still go through the similar symptoms if you had Covid.” He doesn’t believe it worked, but he doesn’t regret the decision he made. 

Senior Ginger Bolio chose to be vaccinated. She chose to get vaccinated because she found out that the virus could mutate. A lot of people at her work space tried to convince her not to get the vaccine as well. Ginger said, “ I don’t want to be one of the people to contribute to the mutation.” 

LHS is below the state average for vaccination rates. The state average of 70.7% of all Massachusetts eligible residents are fully vaccinated. That equals over 4.8 million people. Also, 84% have had at least one dose, or well over 5.75 million people.  Worldwide, 7.49 billion people have received the vaccine.

Due to the new variant, Covid cases are on the rise in Massachusetts. As we reported this month, Leominster Schools have seen 154 positive student cases between September and October 30.

For information on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine check the CDC at Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | CDC  or ask your family doctor.