In 2021, a coalition of national museum and library associations awarded the Peale (Baltimore, Maryland) a Communities for Immunity grant. The goal of the project is for trusted, local institutions to engage their communities in order to boost COVID-19 vaccine confidence. Since being awarded the grant, we've been gathering stories, with the help of collaborating organizations like the Stoop Storytelling Series, from people about their experiences with COVID and getting the vaccine.
Aissata Sy (00:00): Hello, everybody. My name is Aissata Sy and I'm a student, a senior, at Bard High School Early College. And just like Shoshana, I'm going to be sharing my story on the vaccine.
Aissata Sy (00:11): Around 2020, like midyear, we got out of school because we heard about the COVID virus going around. During that time I felt like, oh, look, we're getting out of school. It's time for us to rest just like an early break. And then things started out to stretch out and then the virus got more and more and more crazy and was just kind of scary. And then I always had anxiety and self-conscious of going outside there. Like the thought of the possibility of getting infected and your family and friends, and the possibility of having one of your loved ones die because of it.
Aissata Sy (00:53): So fasting forward to when the vaccine was developed. During that time it was just a lot of information. I would say a lot of misinformation on the internet and social media, which was my main source for news in a way. So I just started reading a whole bunch of things and I guess getting my news from social media. They were just saying a lot of during that time, like the vaccine will turn you into an animal or you don't know what would happen during the long run. Like why should you get it now kind of thing.
Aissata Sy (01:33): So, I had my own hesitancy in getting the vaccine because it was a scary thing during that time because it was just the thought that oh, this vaccine was produced so quickly and usually vaccines takes about five years to get created. And this concern was for not just me, but also my parents and my family. But as time went on, I decided to take matters into my own hands and do my own research because I thought that this vaccine could be the possibility for me to have and for all of us to have some kind of normalcy back in our lives. Doing my own research and educating myself on it was probably the best thing I could have done for myself and my family.
Aissata Sy (02:22): So, I got the vaccine and I got it at Mega Mart, which is like a food store. So like a grocery store. So I went and the anxiety just leading up to getting the vaccine was worse to actually getting the vaccine. It was just like a little pinch that I got on my shoulder, and it felt like any other vaccine I've gotten. But since the whole situation going around, with everything going around and just like people being scared that I think made the anxiety and everything else in the back of my head saying like, "Oh my god, what if does something does happen to me?"
Aissata Sy (03:02): But, I got the vaccine and I realized that this vaccine is the opportunity for us to really get normalcy back into our lives and just put a stop to this virus, which has really taken a lot of lives. With the new variants going around, going on and just getting ourselves vaccinated is the best way to keep everyone safe.
Asset ID: 2022.05.06
The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the recordings for this project do not necessarily represent those of the Peale or the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
