Art by Primo Lagaso Goldberg
On April 15, all California residents over the age of 16 will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. At LWHS, however, so many upperclassmen have already been vaccinated that by surveying a Junior or Senior classroom, it might seem as if all young adults have already been made eligible. Here’s how LWHS students have managed to receive vaccine doses so far.
Both Ali Saraceni ’21 and Callie Hendrickson ’22 became eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine through their jobs as food service workers. Saraceni was particularly happy to get the vaccine because her parents are in their fifties but were not eligible to get vaccinated as early as she was. “Being able to get the vaccine, knowing that I’m going to work and to school and to sports and stuff, that are more high-risk exposures, makes me feel better about not endangering them,” she said.
Lauren Hanneken ’21, who works as an informal caregiver for an older woman in her neighborhood, also received a vaccine because of her job. Having received both of her doses in March, Hanneken was “pretty happy and pretty grateful” to be one of the first young people vaccinated in San Francisco.
Sophia Casey ’21 has been a participant in the Novavax vaccine trial since February. She and her mom both signed up in late January and since then have received two doses of either the vaccine or a placebo. On April 23, they will enter the second round of the trial, where the participants will switch vaccine and placebo groups.
Casey initially expected to “be way ahead of the game in terms of getting vaccinated,” but because of the U.S.’s speedy vaccine rollout, she will now be behind some of her peers, as she will not receive her second dose and complete the trial until May 15. She had the option to drop out of the study, but she and her mom chose to stay until the end. “If too many people drop out, then they don’t have enough data and they can’t get the vaccine out there, and it just feels important,” Casey said.
Peter Brownrigg ’22 also participated in a vaccine study: Moderna’s clinical trials for children 12-16. Brownrigg is one of 3000 participants in the study, which is being conducted by the company Velocity Clinical Research. Brownrigg, like Casey, is in a double blind trial, meaning he will not be made aware of if he was given the vaccine or a saline solution placebo until the study ends.
“Since I am in the trial, I’m helping it get approved for kids our age,” said Brownrigg. “It feels pretty cool.”
Two months ago, Brownrigg made his first of five journeys to Banning, CA, a city north of Palm Springs, for his first dose. He returned to Banning 28 days later for the second dose and will also return on days 59, 294 and 382 to continue monitoring his health. Although Velocity Clinical Research expects the vaccine to be approved by the FDA for those 12 to 16 years old in a month or so, participants who were given the vaccine are expected to remain in the trial for over a year.
Brownrigg isn’t so sure that he even received the vaccine: the only symptom he experienced was a sore arm. “I was almost hoping for a stronger reaction on the second dose,” he said. “That would be a good sign” that he had been given the vaccine instead of a placebo. Either way, when the vaccine is approved and participants are unblinded, if he has not already received it, Brownrigg will be among the first in line to be administered his two doses.
Other students received vaccine doses before they were technically eligible by visiting sites that vaccinate people regardless of eligibility. Finn Maniscalco ’21 and his parents, for example, traveled to an Oakland clinic that was administering doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Maniscalco said he was particularly happy to be vaccinated because his immunity will aid him in protecting more vulnerable people from COVID-19.
All of these students agree that whenever the rest of the LWHS student body becomes eligible, whether it be on April 15 or later, they should do what they can to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. As vaccination rates continue to rise in California and coronavirus cases fall, the immunity of young people will be crucial in getting things back to normal.
