HOST INTRO: While most people approve of the COVID-19 vaccine, there’s a large population who still have their hesitancies towards it. This is especially true of younger aged people. According to the New York Health Department, people in the 16 to 25 age demographic have the second-lowest vaccination rate. Looking to get a better understanding of how younger aged citizens of New York feel about the vaccine, Baruch journalist Patrick Manning talked to people on both sides of the issue about it. First I talked with Jake Ntellas, a 21-year-old student at Baruch College from Park Slope, who decided to get the vaccine.
ACT: JAKE: I got vaccinated because I wanted to protect myself and my family from COVID-19, as well as help protect my community and protect those people who are immunocompromised or would just have a very bad case of COVID.
TRACK: The fact that his mother is a smoker also played a role in his decision.
ACT: JAKE: My mom, she’s a heavy smoker, she went to the doctors and they told her she was possibly high risk.
TRACK: While he is pro-vaccine and hopes that everyone gets vaccinated, his feelings towards vaccine mandates are a bit more complicated.
ACT: JAKE: Personally, I’m very conflicted on the vaccine mandate. I’m a big believer of personal freedoms. However, on the other side, if everyone were to get vaccinated and everyone were to abide by these mandates, it would definitely stop the spread of COVID or at least slow it down to the point where we can get it under control.
TRACK: While he does not have any hard feelings about people who choose to remain unvaccinated, he hopes he considers those around them when they make that decision.
ACT: JAKE: I do think that they should judge their own personal situations, like if they live with older family members or if they come in contact with older people, or people in general who are just very at risk of having COVID.
TRACK: When it comes to unvaccinated people, another thing he hopes for is that they maintain a healthy lifestyle.
ACT: JAKE: A lot of people who’ve died from COVID in the United States, it’s primarily due to obesity and the unhealthy lifestyle of Americans.
TRACK: On the other side of the debate, we have a 21-year-old student from Brooklyn College, who asked to go by Mohammed for this project. He has decided to remain unvaccinated so far. He’s chosen not to get vaccinated in large part due to the incentives given out to get people to get vaccinated.
ACT: MOHAMMED: I didn’t like how they had incentives around getting the vaccine, they were throwing incentives like, we’ll give you a hundred dollars if you go and take the vaccine.
TRACK: As for the vaccine mandate, he doesn’t feel as though it’s had much of an impact on his life so far.
ACT: MOHAMMED: Yeah, I feel like my life has not really changed much. I’m not gonna say I’m not a social person or something, but I don’t really go too much places, it’s not really my cup of tea.
TRACK: Even though he remains unvaccinated, he has no issue with people who have chosen to get vaccinated.
ACT: MOHAMMED: To each their own, they do what they want to do. It’s no judgement.
TRACK: The debate over the vaccine and subsequent mandates is clearly going nowhere. With a new mayor, widely assumed to be Eric Adams, soon to be in charge of running the city, a close eye will be kept on whether he chooses to keep these mandates in place. For Baruch College, I’m Patrick Manning.