Pfizer or Moderna? If you had asked anyone this question last year they would have thought you were speaking in gibberish. These two words signify one important advancement in the fight against COVID-19— a vaccine. Since early December, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been distributed all over the world in hopes to help control the pandemic. Both of these vaccines have been proven to be 95 percent effective, and after much anticipation, teachers are next in line to get vaccinated.

Mrs. Falat, an English teacher at East, has already made plans to get vaccinated. Along with having four kids, Mrs. Falat’s husband is also a science teacher at East. Both of the Falats got their vaccines in February and are doing everything they can to protect their “students, colleagues, and the support staff.”

Physical science teacher Mrs. Hinrichsen felt the same way. Mrs. Hinrichsen said that she was also looking forward to receiving the vaccine and she got it on Valentine’s day. In an effort to help the staff who wanted to get vaccination appointments, she also added on that “a representative from the school district sent a couple links [that staff] could use.”

Mr. Satz, a math teacher new to the Cherry Hill school district, is also “trying relentlessly to get this vaccination.” Additionally, despite his fear of shots he says that “being a teacher helps [him] to push through [his] phobia of needles because [he] is constantly thinking about being a role model to students.” Although the soonest he could get an appointment is May 3rd, he said that he would rather get it as soon as possible, and doesn’t want to unintentionally hurt his family or anyone else.
East principal Dr. Perry also got his vaccine in February and said he will do anything that he can to bring school back to normal. Although he is not influencing anyone’s decision to get the vaccine, he says that “as principal [he is] not hiding that [he has] decided to get vaccinated, but at the same time [he is] not pressuring anybody to get vaccinated.”

As the vaccination process continues, there is hope that everyone in the Cherry Hill East community can return to large student gatherings before the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Even though the East community has adapted to the hybrid schedule, many students and administrators miss the day to day interactions and routines of the normal school day.