With COVID-19 cases rising daily across the United States, and the rest of the world and hospital beds filling up, something needs to be done. It is crucial that everyone receives the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they can, so the world can move towards a time of safety and normalcy. 

     As the COVID-19 vaccine came closer to being a reality, politicians, healthcare workers and other essential workers across the country have started to receive it. This is the step in the right direction to ensure that the virus can be managed. 

     Although the vaccine is proven to be effective and safe by the Center for Disease Control, many Americans still worry that it isn’t. Rumors of the vaccine containing a tracking chip, changing an individual’s DNA and simply not being safe have been circling the media.This has created a negative and dangerous connotation around the vaccine that isn’t true. According to the CDC, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) for two COVID-19 vaccines which have been shown to be safe and effective as determined by data from the manufacturers and findings from large clinical trials.” Both Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and the CDC is urging Americans to take it. 

     If every American received the vaccine, it will create herd immunity which protects the country from more COVID-19 outbreaks and lethal cases. According to the World Health Organization, “Herd immunity’, also known as ‘population immunity’, is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.” It is important that people take the COVID-19 vaccine, in order for the country to come together and slow and ultimately stop the spread of the virus. With 23 million cases and 389 thousand total deaths of COVID-19 in the United States, it is critical that Americans receive the vaccine as soon as they can, to stop the outrageous numbers from increasing. 

     The COVID-19 vaccine will have many benefits for the country if everyone takes it. Receiving the vaccine could be the difference between saving a life and causing more people to die. With all of the devastation that has been brought on by COVID-19, it is so important for the country to come together and do something to keep people safe and free of COVID-19.