<Interiew with Mr. Ogaz>

COVID-19 vaccines are the most efficient way to protect people from getting seriously ill from the virus, as well as being infected and dying from the Pandemic. On the other hand, no vaccines can make a person be a 100% safe from getting the virus; though rare, even fully vaccinated people can be affected by the Delta variant  of Coronavirus.

However, vaccination is  the most effective existing method to protect many people against the disease. Herd immunity is the best solution so far and South Korea has achieved 52.6% of fully vaccinated population. As a result, vaccinated citizens are experiencing side effects, where types vary from Coronavirus-like symptoms to no symptoms at all. 

The side effects of Coronavirus vaccines are mostly mild to moderate and short-lasting. The most common symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, diarrhea, and pain at the injection site. The chances of experiencing any of these side effects following vaccination vary from person to person depending on which type of COVID-19 vaccine they are injected. 

To find out more about the side regarding the vaccine, I interviewed Javier Ogaz who suffered from adverse reaction after the vaccination and Krystal Woo without one.  Both work in an academic field and got the Pfitzer vaccinated. Javier Ogaz is a Grade 1 writing and social studies teacher and works for 6 hours a day.

Javier Ogaz had a lot of side effects after getting the vaccination, saying that he had pain on his arm, nausea, and fever at the first dose and had the symptoms again with sore throat at the second dose.  

Moreover, he was so sick that he couldn’t go to work for a week. Usually, workers who get the vaccine injected have the day of injection off. “During my first dose, I thought I would be fine thinking that I am very healthy. I did watch the news about the side effects, but did not really care. But I was surprised to find myself getting not just for a day, but for a week”

However, Mr. Ogaz couldn't attend any of his classes. While other teachers from the school had the had the symptoms gone very fast, he was the only one who had numerous severe side effects. Due to the symptoms he had, Mr. Ogaz couldn't attend any of his classes. For his absence, he had to work in his house and other teachers had to take over his classes. 

Krystal Woo is also a school teacher who also got Ptizer injected but had no side effects. She was famous for her workload that seemed heavier than any other teachers in the institution as she was an academic director.

Mrs. Woo explained that  she was worried about the side effects because she was pregnant and no one could replace her job since I have a lot of work to do.” She read some articles and news written about the adverse reactions that occur after the vaccination just before the first doze.

She couldn’t sleep that night thinking of the symptoms she might experience and suffer from. It was not just the baby that kept her up all night, but the works left to do. However, she was surprised that after getting her first and second dose, she only had pain on her injected arm just for a day and could return to her job right away.

Mrs. Woo had to meet the new-comers and lead the teachers' meeting. “Since I had tons of work to do, I even spent most of the time working, to call the parents and buy the school supplies. I also had to interact with the researchers, writers, and experts to present the overall academic direction to the parents.” she said. 

” Just before the first doze, she saw a lot of articles and news saying about the symptoms after getting the injection. She recalled severely struggling to sleep that night. It was just not the baby that made her up all night. She had numerous things to do too. Mrs. Woo has to counsel new-comers and lead the teacher conference.

“Since I have tons of work to do, I even spend most of the time working, such as calling parents, buying school supplies. I also interact with researchers, writers, and experts to present the overall academic direction to parents.”, Ms. Woo said.

<Interview with Ms. Woo>

One was a strong man, who is seldom ill, was so sick and couldn't work for a week after the vaccine injection, while a teacher who was so busy having so much work to do only had pain on her vaccinated site and had the symptoms gone in a short moment.

With the different health status and immune system each people have, some people may not even get sick after the vaccination, while others may suffer from serious symptoms like Mr. Ogaz.

Myunghyun Kim
Grade 8
Hillside school