What People Are Most Excited About Post-Vaccine: Friends, Family, and Live Events - Teen Vogue
Eleven young people weigh in.
With more than 35% of the U.S. population fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, millions more doses being given each day, and the Pfizer vaccine being approved for use in young people age 12 and older, the U.S. is turning a corner in the fight against COVID-19. America’s vaccine rollout — as bureaucratic and frustrating as it has been on an individual level, especially at the start — has actually been among the best in the world.
The relative success has been especially stark as conditions in other countries, especially across the global south, worsen. In India, the death rate is reaching staggering heights of 4,200 people per day, and dozens of nations are still reporting vaccination rates in the single digits. As law student and global vaccination advocate Navya Dasari recently told Teen Vogue, “None of us are safe until all of us are safe.”
There isn’t going to be a single day when COVID-19 is suddenly over, and we shouldn’t stop caring about what happens in the rest of the world once we receive our shots. But after more than a year of living with uncertainty and fear, people are starting to dream about what might come next. In the U.S., colleges are looking to open in-person classes for the fall 2021 semester (some with vaccination requirements), museums, bars, and gyms are increasing their capacity, and states across the country are setting and approaching their criteria for fully reopening. On May 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even announced that fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks indoors or outdoors in most settings, or to socially distance.
According to an informal Twitter poll of 406 Teen Vogue readers, 43.8% said they were most excited to see friends and family, while live events came in at a close second with 42.4%. Just 6.4% said they were particularly looking forward to a return to in-person school or work, and 7.4% said “other.” Twitter user Ciaran Barlow replied, “ I can't wait to be able to just see people's faces again!!”
As vaccination numbers continue to rise around the country, Teen Vogue talked to young people about what they’re looking forward to.
Olivia, 18, Guam
“This year, I’ve talked more to my grandma than any other year. I want COVID to end faster, so I can meet them in person. And not on a WeChat video call. We only go back to China whenever something big happens, for example, when my sister graduated college or when I entered high school. This year, I’m graduating high school, but I can’t go back to China and visit my grandma. I really want to take pictures where I’m not in another area but next to her where I can see her smile, face-to-face, and laugh together without any lags.”
Rose, 23, New York
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the world shifts to the ‘ending’ of the pandemic and hopefully a collective reduction of fear/anxiety. I am hopeful that we will take the lessons and new ways of being from this past year to center others’ and our own safety and comfort. I’m also just excited to be in the same space as my best friends.”
Britney, 21, New York
“I’m most looking forward to taking the bus route I took to work at Lenox Hill Hospital during the pandemic [where I stopped working at the end of 2020]. Every day, my bus ran alongside Central Park, and [it was] all emptiness aside from the field hospital full of tents and hazmat suits. [Then] past the Met and its empty stairs. I want to go to the Met and take it in with other people around, and then picnic in the park where that field hospital used to be. I hope it will bring closure to a time that I have to remind myself is no longer the present.”
Heather, 16, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
“I’m an amateur photographer and I can’t wait to take my friends places and stage photo shoots when it’s safe to take our masks off and be together, indoors or outdoors. Over the pandemic, my school created a Student Equity Council, which has been working to promote diversity and equity within classrooms and the curriculum. We meet every week, but we’ve never been able to meet in person. Our advisor told us that when the pandemic is over, we’re going to get together at our school farm and play with the baby goats during our meetings.”
Riley, 21, Chicago
“I’m most looking forward to actually being able to experience college. My freshman year I didn’t really take full advantage of all the opportunities I had, and then, before I knew it, I was in a pandemic. I’m ready to explore and have fun with the amazing friends and connections I’ve made. I want to join more student organizations and go to more social in-person events.”
Kelly, 18, Los Angeles
“The potential of vaccines to end the pandemic means freedom to me in so many ways, especially as I start college in the fall — freedom to greet my roommates with a hug, sit elbow to elbow in the dining hall, smile openly at others as I explore my new home, cheer from the sidelines of a big game, try new foods by ordering dishes to share, lose myself in the crowd at a concert, discover new interests alongside my peers in a class no longer taught over Zoom — I can’t wait.”
Chi, 21, Pittsburgh
“I’m the founder of a fashion styling company called Styling by Chi and my company provides free styling sessions and clothing to the elderly, homeless, mentally ill, [differently abled], autistic, and at risk. Because of the pandemic, I haven’t been able to do any community styling at all. I cannot wait to be able to style these incredible people again, and make them feel empowered, beautiful, and cared for through fashion and style because they deserve to.”
Drew, 24, Portland, Oregon
“Before the pandemic, I was going to the movie theater almost every Sunday, even if the movie was terrible. There’s just something I love about sitting with strangers and reacting to movies with each other. Portland has so many indie theaters I can’t wait to finally explore when they reopen. I’m just really missing movie theater popcorn too.”
Ella, 18, Ithaca, New York
“I crave the normalcy that life used to offer. I’m also looking forward to being able to say a proper goodbye to my childhood in California after not having a senior prom or a real graduation experience, which was really strange.”
Amaya, 17, Justin, Texas
“I am most looking forward to organizing in person. Politics demands not only a presence but a relationship with your target audience, and everything has become more complicated with COVID-19. This past year, we have been through indescribable hardship and suffering; my only hope is that going forward, we can actively demand more from our government.”
Savanah, 24, Phoenix
“I’m definitely looking forward to my life being open to any and all possibilities again. I’m going to be 25 this year and that used to scare me, but now I feel like I’m at an age where I’m more confident in myself and able to live independently both economically and mentally. It makes me excited to think about all the new people, places, and things I’ll get to experience in the second half of my 20s and beyond.”