In Kitsap County, Central Kitsap High School has the highest number of cases by a large margin, by almost double the number of cases of the closest school. Forty cases compared to Olympic High School’s twenty cases.

In order to stop the spread, everyone needs to get vaccinated. Not only for the protection of themselves, but others. It could also prevent another school shutdown. If the number of cases continue to rise, a shutdown may be inevitable.

Senior wide receiver, Collin Gray-Gatch, said about “Seventy-Five percent” of the players are unvaccinated on the team and about 10 of them have gotten COVID-19 so far in a short few week span. Not only did their season get cut short because of COVID-19, some players have battled injuries for the majority of the year like Vinny Mitchell and Aiden Williamson, dealing with knee injuries.

If everyone were to get vaccinated, they could work towards wearing no masks. Everyone could reduce the risk of high risk people getting covid and they could protect the school from shutting down so nobody misses out on another year of their education.

In response to how COVID-19 has affected him, Collin Gray-Gatch said

“It has affected my friends and family and taking time off school;

It’s very stressful,” Gray-Gatch said.

“It has affected my stamina and I have caught myself breathing out of my mouth way more than usual.”

He went on to say he still hasn’t gained his sense of smell back.

I hope this is a reality check for some that COVID-19 is not a joke and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s very real and can affect a person mentally and physically. The vaccine is perfectly safe and people should advocate for it more because it benefits people more than it harms them.

In a article by John Hopkins Medicine, they referred to all 3 vaccines being administered as perfectly safe and more beneficial than risky.

“Johns Hopkins Medicine is administering all three COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. We view all three vaccines as highly effective in preventing serious disease, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 and that their benefits outweigh their risks.”

It is up us, students, to create the change within the community that we want to see. Some people do not want to wear a mask, but they are unwilling to get vaccinated. There’s a simple solution to that problem. Get vaccinated! There is a point in time when enough is enough and right now we are running out of options as to how we want to go about this pandemic. You have two choices: you can get vaccinated, or you should not be able to play a sport.