The 266 district has allowed for both students and staff to have the option of whether or not to get the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine was made available to kids 16 and older earlier this year.

There were 104 known positive cases among students and 20 among staff in the school district since the start of the year, according to district documents. Additionally, there were 648 high-risk close contact cases. Twenty-five positive Covid cases were connected to exposure in the schools, which the district said is more than could be confirmed in all of the 2020-21 school year.

“I want to protect myself and others around me when I am at school,” said a student who said she got the vaccine before the school year started. The student and others in this article asked to keep her identity confidential because of the controversy surrounding the topic. 

A student from Maize South also got the vaccine while school was in session.  

“The school was growing in Covid cases, and I didn’t want to risk my health,” the student said.

The school board voted to make masks mandatory for students kindergarten through sixth grade because of the spike in cases. Masks remain optional at the middle and high schools. 

Other students don’t feel the need to take the vaccine. A student from Maize said he needs to be more informed about the vaccine. 

“I don’t know what is in the vaccine and don’t have enough information to make a decision right away,” he said. 

A Maize South student also was hesitant.

“I want to wait till I see if there are any long-term effects of the vaccine before I get it,” the student said. 

Many teachers got the vaccination when the district offered it last year.

“I wanted the vaccine to keep the students as safe as possible, and to protect my family and myself from Covid,” a Maize high teacher said.