Did you know that the CDC estimated that 732,000 American children were saved from death between 1994 & 2014 due to vaccination? There have been many times where I have come into contact with people that had COVID, but I have never gotten it due to the precautions I have taken, including vaccination. This is important because over 5 million people have died from COVID and vaccines are the best way to prevent that. Everyone should do their part to stop COVID by getting vaccinated. All around the world people have been killed by and greatly affected by COVID-19, but we can prevent that with the help of vaccines. Vaccines are a great way to stop the spread. In order to do this more people in places of power should put up vaccine mandates.

Tons of people have died from COVID over the past year, with more and more deaths each day. So many people lost their lives, and the amount is only decreasing now that vaccination is around. In an article by Marisa Delato from Forbes: “the U.S. surpassed 700,000 COVID-19 deaths, more than any other country, and 25,000 more than were killed by the Spanish flu of 1918, making COVID-19 the deadliest pandemic in American history.” COVID has killed a shocking amount of people, even becoming the deadliest virus in the U.S. ever. In an article by Madeline Holocombe on CNN, it states: “an average of about 1,500 people died every day in the last week of COVID-19” Daily, thousands of people are dying from COVID, even though it’s preventable. As you can see, COVID is an extremely deadly virus,
which is why we need people to get vaccinated to prevent so much death from happening.

Vaccines have helped prevent many COVID cases, reducing the number of cases and deaths. According to Marisa Palleto from Forbes: “The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 dropped to a seven day average of 66,131 in the week to Oct 3rd from 76,734 in the week to Sept 26, according to the CDC, while the share of Americans who have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine has risen to 65%, driven partly by government and corporate mandates.” Vaccines have lowered the rate of cases, as more Americans got vaccinated, the amount of hospitalized cases went down. The mandates helped that to happen. ProCon.org stated that: “In 2011, 49 US states did not meet the 92-94% herd immunity threshold for whooping cough, resulting in a 2012 outbreak that sickened 48,277 people and was the biggest outbreak since 1955.” Vaccines help prevent cases of illness. When not enough people were vaccinated it resulted in a huge outbreak that made a lot of people sick. This is why we need more vaccine mandates to get as many people vaccinated as possible.

Many people believe that vaccines are dangerous, especially to children, and may have horrible side effects or contain harmful ingredients However, vaccines have been proven time and again to be safe and effective. ProCon.org states: “most childhood vaccines are 90-99% effective in preventing disease.” Even with vaccines meant for children, whose immune systems are weaker, they’re still almost always effective. They go on to say, “children are exposed to more bacteria, viruses, toxins, and other harmful substances in one day of normal activity than are in vaccines.” This shows how vaccines aren’t harmful because the ingredients in vaccines aren’t as bad as things kids get exposed to regularly, but are still okay even after being exposed to them. All in all, vaccines are mostly effective, even for children, and aren’t harmful to anyone.

Tons of lives have been changed or ended by COVID. Vaccines have been proven to be the best way to prevent that, so we need vaccine mandates in place everywhere to get more people vaccinated. The amount of people who have died during the pandemic is high, but vaccines have reduced that number. Even for children, vaccines are almost always effective in preventing sickness. If mandates aren’t put in place then less people will be protected against the virus, which will result in more people getting sick and more deaths. This is why these mandates are so important because we can protect ourselves and end the pandemic faster. You can even do your part by going out and getting vaccinated today.

Written By:

Antonia Slater


Grade 8


Capital City PCS


2021