COVID-19: A Summary

Most people know about the huge worldwide pandemic that originated from China. In this short exposé I will talk about COVID-19, its affects and also the new vaccine that just came out. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people, and those with underlying medical problems are more likely to develop serious illness. The best way to prevent getting COVID-19 is to be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. You can protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands more frequently, not touching your face, and to wear a mask when you go out in public. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also keep a distance of at least 6 feet apart. 

COVID-19 vaccines teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. It typically takes 2 weeks after vaccination for the body to build protection against the virus that causes COVID-19. That means it is possible a person could still get COVID-19 before or just after vaccination and then get sick because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection.  People are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, or 2 weeks after the single-dose Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. After you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing some things you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. 

Kylie James is a student that lives in Lakewood Ranch, she recently got the new Covid vaccine shot. She is in great health and plays soccer, so this makes her a great candidate to take the vaccine. She says the shot was painless and that she barely felt it.  She is 15 so it wasn’t available to her until May 13th, and that is when she got her first dose. She also said that she plans to get the second dose June 3rd. Kylie James says, ”After the first dose of the vaccine I felt very very tired and my arm hurt afterwards, but it wore off after a day or two.” The received the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine because she said that her family researched it and it wasn’t showing and long term affects and that its ratings were very high. Kylie also shared her personal feelings about the vaccine, and she said, “I wanted to get the vaccine because it would keep my parents safe, and I also didn’t see a reason not to get it.”