By: Manuela Correa
It is March 29th of 2021 as I am writing this. A couple of days ago I saw on the CNN news
channel that Rutgers University became the first educational institution in the country that is
planning to make students return to campus this year.
For me, it all sounded great at first, until I saw they have one condition to make it happen: every student who is willing to enroll for this coming 2021 fall semester must be vaccinated against the COVID-19.
I was more concerned that earlier this morning I read an online article on the Insider portal that showed how the government is planning a program that requires every person to have a “vaccine passport” as a proof of vaccination, or recent negative testing, to enter to any business.
What I wonder with all this, considering the COVID-19 vaccine has not been yet officially
approved by the FDA, is: Why are we rushing to return to normalcy?
Rushing to get back our lifestyles prior to the pandemic is something I am not understanding.
Adjusting to online learning was a little tough for me at first, as was wearing a mask every place I had to go.
Eventually, these new situations became something I got used to while waiting for the vaccine
and a treatment for the new disease. As time passed, the COVID-19 vaccine was made and
started to be distributed by pharma companies around the world.
However, there has been some issues people may not be aware of regarding the shot before
taking it. Today, none of the vaccines are fully approved by the FDA. The FDA has issued
Emergency Use Authorization of three different COVID vaccines in the US, last one being the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine in February.
What the state of EUA means is that there is in no way an official licensure of the vaccine
approved by the FDA, but rather an approval of use knowing the benefits and risks for the short term, not over long periods of time.
I have seen cases in the last couple of weeks where the available vaccines have damaged
people’s health, rather than improve it. Despite not having any data on the full effectiveness of
these vaccines, the federal government, and other institutions, are now advocating for this
vaccine-passport program that takes into consideration these experimental vaccines are a
hundred percent safe for all of us.
I am simply puzzled to see how they are suddenly relying on them to get us back to normalcy.
Society seems to be planning to moving and forgetting about the pandemic, with new policies
that make sure we are all “protected” against COVID. Although I understand these measures are being considered in the name of getting back our normal lifestyles while heavily considering our safety, my question remains: Why the rush?