Arkansas sources released an article about why getting a COVID-19 vaccination is “a no-go” for some. Among the reasons is lack of “trust in the product and others who don’t believe in the vaccine.”

A Benton County resident was interviewed who is not COVID-19 vaccinated for both of the above reasons. “We’re not anti-vaxxers entirely as a family,” she said and asked that her name not be used due to the negative connotation of not getting vaccinated. “Maybe my doctor is a bit different. He’s a licensed general practitioner but practices as a homeopathic, are not vaccinated, and we talked about making this decision.”

“Getting the vaccination doesn’t mean you’re immunized from the disease (COVID-19),” she said. Even though the centers for disease control (CDC) states that a vaccine produces immunity to a specific disease, the COVID’19 vaccine is not proven to produce immunity.

The article also mentioned that she considers the flu and COVID similar in that you can get a shot for it. “The difference is that there’s no criticism attached for not getting a flu shot,” she said.

In her opinion, there is more bad than good with getting a COVID-19 vaccine. “I know several people who have had COVID and survived,” she said. “And everyone I know who has been vaccinated had severe reactions.”

According to the CDC, there have been a total of 6,079 reports of death on VAERS among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine. After reading reports on VAERS, some cases had underlining issues that became worse due to the vaccine.

The article added that as of Wednesday, July 14, more than 1 million Arkansans, 12 and older, were fully immunized, about 40% of the population; 235,914 were partially immunized, 12 and older, that’s 9.23%; nationally, 56.4% of the U.S. population, 12 and older, are fully immunized, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is offered for those who are 12 and older. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for people 18 and older.

All states have laws regarding vaccines for students, but exemptions vary state-to-state. Forty-five states and Washington D.C. have religious exemptions, and 15 states including Arkansas, have philosophical exemptions. Currently, no states have a COVID-19 vaccine requirement to enter school.