Survey responses reveal why residents are choosing to get the vaccine or not. And a small number (8%) of people have changed their mind in the past three months.
Here is a sampling of responses. Respondents were not required to provide their names.
Why residents are getting the vaccine:
“The vaccines are the single greatest weapon we have against this deadly virus. They have been proven to be both safe and effective. I believe it is morally imperative to get vaccinated to love and protect those around us,” said Annie Mitchell of Fairborn.
Avery Dillon, a nursing student from Centerville, said she got the vaccine “to protect my loved ones, to provide more immunity. To be able to have a sense of ‘normal’ back … (I) want to protect everyone around me and lead as an example being a future health care worker.”
“Anything I can do to help return to life before COVID, I’m willing to do,” said Barbara Goralski of Miami Twp.
“It appears to be the intelligent thing to do, as I believe that it will help get us all back toward a more normal world,” said Bill McCoy of Englewood. “During my life I have been given many vaccines, starting with polio as a child, and the list goes on since. Some I took on my own, some were required by my occupation, and I have lived ¾ of a century without any major problems.”
Casey Huynh of Washington Twp. said: “My 16-month-old son was born at 25 weeks and has chronic lung disease and has already spent 110 days in the NICU. We must protect him.”
“I want to see my grandchildren and I don’t want to take the chance of passing this deadly disease to anyone else,” said Deb Accurso of Springfield.
Erin Jeffries of Dayton said: “I want to reach herd immunity so we can protect those who legitimately can’t get the vaccine, especially kids.”
“I want my life back and I want to end the human suffering caused by this virus,” said Lita Arnold of Clearcreek Twp.
“My daughter died of COVID in March of 2020 and my son died March 11, 2021. While I want to (die) from the grief, I can tell you no one in their right mind wants to die of COVID-19,” said Marie Trittschuh of Butler Twp.
Why residents are not getting the vaccine:
Angela Files of Huber Heights said, “I will wait until the vaccine trials have been completed in 2023 and whether there have been residual side effects.”
A Miamisburg man and a Miami Twp. both both said they were concerned about the lack of long-term studies of the new vaccine.
“There is absolutely no long-term data on vaccine safety. I am a firm believer in vaccines and hope one day to get it, but not for a couple of years. I want to see the true effect and documented side effects,” said Justin of Miamisburg.
Leann Bachman of Jefferson Twp. said: “I am a healthy person and healthy people don’t need a vaccine that doesn’t even have the virus in it! Faith over fear!”
Tom Young of Englewood said he is concerned the vaccine will interact negatively with the immune suppressing medicine he takes.
Why some residents have changed their mind in the past three months:
Barb of Huber Heights said, “research shows that my worries were not warranted.”
“I changed my mind because I want to be able to travel overseas. Countries are more willing as it goes on to maybe let in vaccinated people,” said April of Fairborn.
Casey Huynh of Washington Twp. said: “I wanted to see others get it and be OK.”
Trittschuh, 74, of Butler Twp. is a survey respondent who long planned on getting the vaccine. But she said her two grandsons were on the fence, even after their mother died suddenly of COVID-19 in March, 2019. Visiting their uncle, Trittschuh’s other child, in the hospital before he also died of COVID-19 this March after a more prolonged battle with the virus convinced them, Trittschuh said.
“For those boys to see their Uncle Ron with a ventilator down his throat, a dialysis machine cleaning his kidneys, and his heart being shocked because it would go into AFib, that was enough to convince them that they’re going to get the vaccine,” she said.
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