The SPECTRUM

Volume 31

The SPECTRUM

The SPECTRUM

booster clinics are in full swing

All students at HW are now eligible for the booster and receiving the booster will be easily accessible through the booster clinics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expanded recommendations for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster shots to include everyone 12 years old and older, and Harvard-Westlake (HW) booster clinics are in full swing.

As the Omicron COVID-19 variant has proven to be incredibly contagious and continues to infect millions across the country, the need for protection has never felt more urgent. Researchers from Botswana and South Africa initially discovered the variant back in November 2020, and a lot still remains unknown, according to the New York Times. Due to Omicron’s mutation in its spiked proteins, it has threatened and weakened COVID-19 vaccine protection, stressing the need for booster shots.

The Omicron variant has put the nation back in time, as it has caused many schools to send students back online temporarily, including HW. Because of the expanded recommendations provided by the CDC, all students at HW are now eligible for the booster and receiving the booster will be easily accessible through the booster clinics.

The HW Community Health Office quickly acted on the booster’s approval,  stating in a Jan. 7 email the new booster recommendations and that, in partnership with Elements Pharmacy, on campus clinics would be available for both HW middle school and upper school students. The middle school’s booster clinics were held in Bing 123 on Jan. 7, 11, 12, 13, 18 and 19. Middle school students were required to be supervised by their parent/guardian as well as show their student ID. 

In a Spectrum survey sent to the entire HW middle school student body, a large majority of students (70%) have received or plan to receive their booster shot through the booster clinics.

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