Pilots Prevent
June 1, 2021
It didn’t take a mandate to convince Fr. Art Wheeler to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Same with UP senior Brienne Pfeifer. Though the two are nearly 50 years apart in age and live very different lives, they both jumped at the chance to get their shots when they were first eligible this past winter. Why were they so willing to be first in line? They both recognized they had a part to play in keeping others safe.
“It seems prudent for public safety,” says Fr. Art, who lives in the “old priests’ home” in Holy Cross Court across from the baseball field and helps with Mass and communion at a rest home. “The single most vulnerable community are those over 80 years old, and since I live and interact with so many of them, I wanted to be safe for the sake of those people. I was also very mindful of the many staff who work here, like physical plant who clean our buildings and the people who serve our food. I wanted to be community minded in terms of helping to protect them.”
Pfeifer, a biology major, says since she was working with health care providers at an eye bank, she qualified for the vaccine with the first eligibility group. “I was so excited I qualified,” she says. “I had been longing for the vaccine to come out and couldn’t wait to get vaccinated.”
Even though she’s in an age group that generally experiences very few serious or deadly side effects from contracting COVID-19, she still didn’t hesitate to get vaccinated. “I feel like it’s my responsibility to do my part to reach herd immunity and protect our global community,” she says. “It’s the biggest thing that will help us get back to life that’s as close to normal as we know it.”
They both understand that some people can’t get the vaccine due to their age or underlying medical conditions, but that’s even more reason why they wanted to get it for themselves and do their part to help stop the spread of the disease and keep variants from developing.
“The longer we wait to get vaccinated, the more time COVID has to mutate and develop strains that are more harmful,” says Pfeifer. “We don’t have an option. It’s on us. We gotta do it.”
Fr. Art says the current pandemic reminds him of similar one that loomed large over his childhood years. “I’m old enough to remember when polio was a scourge. I knew a number of families whose lives were really impacted. Vaccination was mandatory and some people didn’t want to get it. But I understood why mandatory vaccinations were important because my father got polio when he was 13, and his life was compromised in a lot of ways.”
When Pfeifer encounters someone who resists getting vaccinated, she takes an educational approach. “We know more about the vaccine than we know about COVID,” she says. “I’ve heard people say ‘We don’t know anything about the vaccine’ and I’ll say what makes you think that? I question their assumptions and they have to stop and think and realize maybe they don’t have the answers. They’re usually more open to receiving facts after that.”
Fr. Art worries about those who don’t have access to vaccines, healthcare, and the ability to social distance, people near and far who are at the mercy of those of us who do. “COVID is going to kill a lot more people,” he says. “I felt lucky that I could act in a way to protect myself and those around me.”University of Portland
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