Student/Faculty Opinions on Vaccination

By: Henry Liu, Ellie Ana Sperantsas, Clark Wu

Over 500 eligible and registered students received their Pfizer vaccines on Wednesday, April 28 from a clinic hosted in the Thompson Field House. The vaccinations were administered by RiteAid and arranged by the Academy in collaboration with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Many students have asked for less restrictive COVID measures for vaccinated students after full vaccination is accomplished.

Current Academy guidelines are more restrictive than official post-vaccination Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines released earlier this week. The latter states that “fully vaccinated people may meet inside a home or other private setting with other fully vaccinated people of any age without wearing masks or distancing.” They also allow for “fully vaccinated people to gather indoors with unvaccinated people of any age from one other household without masks or staying 6 feet apart, unless any of those people or anyone they live with is at high-risk for contracting COVID-19.” The Academy has not indicated any intentions to alter COVID-19 measures for vaccinated students.

Many students are excited about the prospect of less restrictive COVID measures following vaccination. “I'm hoping maybe it'll help day students be able to get back in the dorm and maybe in the future, [we’ll be] maskless [in] sports, which could be really exciting,” lower Riley Jones said.

Other student athletes shared similar thoughts. “If we can, I’d want there to be more freedoms for athletes,” upper Arya Nistane said. “On the cross country and track teams, for example, we shouldn’t be required to wear masks during practices and interschool meets if we’re already vaccinated.”

Upper Celine Gu mentioned the possibility of lessening off-campus restrictions. “I hope I could get deliveries from local restaurants outside of the specified list, get to go into town without a chaperone and get to use the higher library floors for some private work time. I think masks are still important though, just for us to stay healthy and alert.”

“I would also like to return to in person music lessons if possible as it is very hard over FaceTime,” prep Neil Varwandkar added.

Some students would like the removal of plexiglass around Harkness tables. “We should be allowed to go into town without a chaperone and lose one of plexiglass or masks—I have a hard time hearing at the Harkness table,” upper Anja Meaney said.

Upper Lindsay Machado agreed. “Plexiglass makes partner work especially difficult. We would still be masked, obviously, for the students who aren’t vaccinated, but it would help improve the learning experiences of everyone across the board,” she said.

“I want Visitations brought back,” lower Mateo Connelly said. “I think people with the two doses of the vaccine should have the same restrictions as we had in 2019.”

Lower Dax Knoll agreed. “I think that having at least the common rooms open after the students are vaccinated should be acceptable as long as we are socially distanced and masked. It’s a great first step to starting to integrate Vs again,” he said.

Upper Catherine Uwakwe also commented on increased room capacities. “We already hang out a lot in places like the [second] floor of EPAC, as long as we’re aware of room limits it shouldn’t be a huge change to make common rooms more accessible.”

“I’d love to see room capacities increase immediately because they are almost impossible to work with at this moment,” upper Alex Kermath agreed. “I’d also look for a more open graduation for the dear seniors.”

Senior Josh Yu would want to see some normalcy. “Students who have gotten vaccines should be allowed to return to normal school policies (allowed off campus with no supervision, normal visitations policy with other vaccinated students, etc.) and be allowed more lax regulation on social distancing. They should still wear masks and be tested twice every week, but vaccinated students who are close contacts with positive cases should not be forced to quarantine,” he said. 

“I would want to see more opportunities for vaccinated people to gather together and also opportunities for us to leave campus,” lower Eric Zhang said. “The Exeter bubble could be kind of monotonous, and I think getting vaccinated would finally give us the opportunity to leave it.”

On the other hand, some students shared concerns about opening up restrictions too quickly. “Not the entire school population is going to be able to get the vaccine, so it's kind of hard to let down those restrictions because it’s hard to tell who's gotten it,” prep Thomas Roper said.

“We don't really know the efficiency of the vaccine quite yet. Sure, it's in the nineties, but a lot of people are asymptomatic, and still pass it around,” upper Gretl Baghdadi said. “I think we should keep the masks. Maybe we can be less strict on the social distancing, but then again, there's always the possibility of people not being vaccinated, like not wanting to be vaccinated, so they will still be at risk.”

Baghdadi believed community members should wear masks indefinitely. “I don’t think they are that much of a bother,” she said.

“I think we should hold off from making any changes until everyone gets back on campus. I don’t think it’s helpful for us to introduce any programs or activities only open to those who have been vaccinated. It would just be unfair and awkward,” upper Kiesse Nanor said.

Prep David Goodall, who would be missing the vaccines due to age restrictions, advised students to remain careful and cautious. “At first it might seem great, a chance at last to experience Exeter as it once was, but it’s important to acknowledge that there are still people on campus that are at risk, especially because of increasing interactions with members of the town of Exeter,” he said.

Lower Joey Dong, who would also miss the vaccine due to age restrictions, hoped that everyone would realize the difficulties open policies pose for more vulnerable members of the community. “Our campus is still pretty open to townsfolk and visitors; not all of our teachers live on campus, and not everyone is getting the vaccines. I really wish we could take our masks off now that it’s not required anymore in the state of NH. But we have to keep in mind the risks involved,” she said. 

Science Instructor Michael McLaughlin commended the school for “successfully thread[ing] an awfully tight needle in the fall and winter.” 

“The school has earned a lot of trust on this issue,” he said. “All faculty and staff have access to the vaccine, (students over 16 soon), and two Israeli studies add to a growing body of evidence that the vaccines significantly reduce the rate of transmission. At this point, I think the abundance of plexiglass and outdoor masks are more about virtue signaling then data driven decision making, but I’ve been wrong before (on this exact issue no less).”

As the Academy achieves a safer community following the vaccination of students above 16, students are eager to see what COVID restrictions the Academy will relax to restore a degree of normalcy.