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A spirit that is not afraid

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Vaccination essential to protecting Auburn Family

<p>The trees at Toomer's Corner are rolled after an Auburn win.&nbsp;</p>

The trees at Toomer's Corner are rolled after an Auburn win. 

Whether in high school or college, we all can remember when our world changed, seemingly overnight. Over spring break, Auburn students were notified that we would not be returning to campus the following Monday and would instead spend the next four weeks online while the pandemic passed. 

These four weeks soon turned into the rest of the semester, which then turned into a mostly virtual and heavily restricted fall and spring the following year.

In the face of this adversity, the Auburn family banded together. We wore our masks to protect our fellow neighbor and did the best that we could to limit our gatherings and socially distance ourselves. We did this, and we waited. We waited for the day that we could begin our return to normalcy.

Last spring, we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not one, but three vaccines were produced that were highly effective against the virus. But as the supply was limited, we kept our masks on while those who needed the vaccine the most got it. We protected our Auburn Family.

Then, at the beginning of this summer, we got a taste of normalcy again.

With the vaccination rates increasing, it looked like we would overcome this virus, and for a while we did.

However, with the new Delta variant, we are sliding backward. According to the CDC, this variant is at least twice as infectious as the original strain, and several studies suggest that it may also cause more severe illnesses in unvaccinated persons. 

The infection rate has surged. At first glance, this surge looks like last year all over again. There is one critical difference this time: the vast majority of these cases are in the unvaccinated population. 

Politicians and pundits all over the ideological spectrum have spoken one, mostly unified message: vaccines work and are necessary to help reduce the negative effects of this virus. The scientific community is also in consensus with this.

This pandemic is no longer one that is forced upon us, but rather one that we have chosen to endure. 

Hospitals are filling back up again and our society is reinstating restrictions from spring 2020, even though we have a highly effective and simple weapon to fight the virus. 

Because of this, the undersigned leaders of the Auburn student body wholeheartedly and strongly encourage all students who can to get vaccinated. We understand that many students are hesitant and encourage them to further research the vaccines through a variety of sources, whether that be from the CDC website, Auburn’s COVID-19 resource page, or your personal physician. However, it is our hope that, after this, you will decide to help protect the Auburn Family and get the vaccine.

In the Auburn Creed, George Petrie states, “I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.” While human touch is more difficult now, it is our hope that we can go forth into this semester full of sympathy for our peers and community, and with a sense of mutual helpfulness. We call on Auburn students to get the vaccine to protect their neighbors, to protect their country and to protect the Family. 

Stay safe and War Eagle,

The undersigned 121 student leaders 



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