The students of Stafford International School had their vaccination program on the 26^th of October 2021. In accordance with government guidelines, students arrived at school at 7.00 a.m. and were transported to the MOH in Rajagiriya, where they were given the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

This program was a part of an island-wide drive to vaccinate all students aged 16 or above. Majority of the students from the Upper 6^th classes, as well as some from the Lower 6^th section were considered eligible and the first dose was successfully administered.

Although the technical and medical side of things went very smoothly, there were a few issues with the availability of information.

On arrival, we were asked to sign a form that stated we were provided all necessary information by the staff at the MOH. However, we were given no information on the side effects of the vaccine, procedures to follow post-vaccine and how to deal with any fever, nausea or pain.

“There wasn’t much help after the vaccine… A couple of kids I know felt sick and dizzy but they were just told to sit on the floor and wait, no help was exactly given” said one student from Lower 6.

While this may not seem a reason for concern, this could have posed a substantial danger to students. Fortunately, all our students have received the vaccine with no lasting side effects or ailments.

“The vaccine definitely didn’t hurt and I was sick for just that day and was fine after that” said one student. We also had a student from upper 6 mentioning that “The only problem I had was the fact that we had to stay in the vaccination room for way too long. It’s not a big problem for most people but the waiting was making me anxious. I just wanted to get it out of the way. Otherwise, everything else was great.” Amidst these unprecedented problems, we are glad our students have been successfully vaccinated.

This leaves us to wonder as to why our students weren’t given the necessary after-care instructions. Most government students have received all this information, and so have adults and our parents who received the vaccine previously.

However, we must thank the MOH and all the staff present for their service nonetheless. “All the staff there were nice and did a great job” were the sentiments of some of our fellow students.

While we may never truly know the finer details as to why things work the way they do, we can take comfort that our students are now successfully on the path to being protected against this virus and that we may return to school in the near future.