Yashira Olmeda wants to go to a comedy show.
She also wants to continue as a student at Springfield Technical Community College to become a sterile processing technician.
To see the show, and to continue taking classes after January, she will need to be vaccinated against COVID 19.
“I know soon all students, staff and faculty will be mandated to take the vaccine,” Olmeda said on Thursday from the on-campus clinic, after receiving her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. “Going into healthcare, I might as well do it. I signed up last night and came here today.”
She received the shot, which she said was quick, painless and easy.
“I chose the Pfizer because I knew that was FDA approved,” Olmeda said.
On Sept. 20, the presidents of the 15 community colleges in Massachusetts announced that students, faculty, and staff at the Commonwealth’s 15 community colleges must be fully vaccinated by January 2022. The announcement comes amid a rise in the number of new cases of COVID-19 across the Commonwealth, the increased access and availability of vaccines, the Food & Drug Administration’s full and pending approval of available vaccines, and CDC guidance that the COVID-19 vaccine has been proven to be extremely safe and highly effective at preventing infection, severe disease, hospitalization, and death.
Olmeda plans to get a second dose in the coming weeks, and soon will be fully vaccinated. That will allow her to comply with the requirements and continue her studies.
She also will be able to see a comedy show.
“My sister said she bought some tickets to a comedy show, and if I didn’t get vaccinated, I couldn’t go,” she said with a chuckle. “She explained a lot of people are requiring vaccinations to attend shows. I don’t want to miss out, so I had to get it done.”
