OPINION: Vaccine mandate is morally wrong

OPINION%3A+Vaccine+mandate+is+morally+wrong

THOMAS SHAW, GUEST WRITER

     To ensure safety for students and teachers, the State of California was the first state in the nation that has decided to place a vaccine requirement for students of all ages to attend school. Although the vaccine mandate is in play for good reasons, I do not believe that forcing students to get the vaccine is the right call. 

     Coming from a vaccinated person, I just don’t think forcing people to get injected with shots they don’t want to get is morally wrong. That being said the vaccine isn’t exactly mandatory, students are not forced to be vaccinated, but the ones who are not will not be allowed to attend school. 

     I can imagine that if the mandate does go into effect lots of students would be pulled from school and placed into homeschooling. This by itself raises questions, parents may need to switch up work hours to be able to take care of their kids if the students would be homeschooled.

     To go even deeper in this, if home school is anything like online school it could greatly affect students’ mental health. As a student who went online for over a year and a half, I absolutely hate everything about it and I think it’s safe to say the majority of the students would agree with me. 

     Not only did it take a toll on my mental health, but it also broke my grades. I didn’t feel like I was learning. Now, this could be a stretch from what could be the reality but if even the possibility could maybe let some second thoughts of requiring vaccines float the air. 

     Now, let’s pretend that everyone was on board with the vaccine mandate. This still doesn’t solve all of our problems. Some students who suffer from medical conditions cannot get the vaccine. 

     The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says booster shots are available for senior citizens and people who suffer from medical conditions. The question is will the booster shot be enough for the requirement or will they no longer be able to attend in-person school? If not, I can’t see how that’s right or fair.

     A student shouldn’t be kicked out of school for complications that are out of their reach to even fix.

     In conclusion, don’t force the vaccine upon students. It isn’t moral, right, fair or logical. Let students attend school regardless of vaccination status.