The COVID booster shot was released to the public earlier this month and was approved for children 12 and up, and some students have already started to get the shot.

   “I got the booster shot for the safety of others,” sophomore Dean McAllister said. “I got it in Oshkosh at Walgreens, I didn’t have any side effects and it barely hurt to get it. It was really easy and simple.”

   However, not everyone wants the booster shot. Some do not trust it, some just have not gotten the shot yet or cannot get it. Others just have no interest in getting it.

   “I haven’t even had the vaccine, I was sick in the beginning of the school year and my parents didn’t want me to get it at all,” junior Amber Dretske said. “I have no interest in getting it, but I think in certain cases it would help people.”

   From a survey sent out by The ‘Red ‘n’ Green’ out of 24 students, 66.7% said they have not gotten the booster shot, leaving 33.3% of responses as yes. For the people that responded yes the side effects included fever, headaches, fatigue, and pain at the injection point.

   “Having the first two vaccinations initially helped my immunity. However, with time my immunity has gone down from 85-90% efficacy to 35% efficacy, so I then got the booster which brought it back up to around 70% against the present variants,” school nurse Terri Mauel said. “I think students should get it. It lessens the symptoms when someone gets COVID and decreases the chance of being hospitalized or getting very sick.”

   Mauel has been quite busy dealing with quarantines, but has been trying to open a clinic here in the district for students to get their shot with a parents’ permission.