Isidro Flores is a fourteen-year-old male who just received his COVID-19 vaccine. As a student, athlete, sibling, and son, Flores shares his perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic and his reason for getting the vaccine.
What memories do you have from that day in March 2020 when you got pulled out of school?
When they first told us, it was only supposed to be a two-week break, so it was just out of nowhere. They texted my parents and said, “We’re not going back till’ next month”, and then the next month, and the next month, and it just kept going on and on. I thought we would be back by like June or July, but we never went back.
At what point in the two-week break did you realize this might be in for the long run?
Probably when I started seeing more cases go on the news. Like, I remember when it first hit a million. I was like, watching a little live-stream thing.
Do you have any personal stories you feel comfortable sharing you experienced during the pandemic?
My dad works in construction and probably when my dad didn’t have work for like a cool month. He didn’t have any work, he was just chilling at my house. It was kinda fun having him here. When I thought about it, it was kinda sad that he wasn’t working at all. But then after that, he started finding more work, and that was pretty good.
How did that experience impact you?
I was kinda worried, but I didn’t really think about it much ‘cause I thought he would just get work the next day. I kept waking up and just seeing him in the kitchen, just making something. I was like, I thought he would have work by now but he didn’t. We went to play basketball a little bit, and during July, my mom had signed me up for a basketball team. So I was just playing there a lot. Once I found out my dad went back to work, I was pretty sad at first ‘cause I like seeing him every day a lot. But it was good for us because we could actually have more money and stuff. My mom worked from home at the time so we were chillin.
Why did you get vaccinated?
One of the reasons I got the vaccine was because we went to tournaments in L.A. and Sacramento. I’d like to stay safe when over there, so I thought it would be cool to have it just in case. And also, my brother and sister are still younger and haven’t gotten it, so it would be cool to keep them safe too, since both my parents got it too. I’m the eldest sibling, I’m fourteen years old, my sister is nine, and my brother is eleven.
At first, I was skeptical because one of my friends on my basketball team had a bad reaction and we didn't know if it was because of the vaccine or something else. So, I was skeptical at first, but when I got it, I felt alright.
A message to someone who hasn't gotten vaccinated.
Let’s say a friend of mine had a younger sibling, I would probably take into account that if they wanted to keep them safe or if their parents were older and they had a worse immune system than him since he’s younger, it would be cool to get it so he can keep them safe too.
