As a Healthcare Professional who is both religious and educated in science, I firmly believe that the COVID-19 vaccine should be among the existing list of required vaccinations for school registration and for those who work closely with the public. These are unprecedented times for many of us in this country. If our line of thinking continues to be "me" instead of "we", it will be a long time before we are truly free again. I understand the value of personal choice, but those who work closely with the public are in a position of power in this pandemic-- they have the ability to slow the spread of the virus if they are vaccinated/wear masks, or accelerate the spread by being direct vectors for infection. The vulnerable people in our society including the elderly, the immunocompromised, and children too young for vaccination, suffer with the continued availability of hosts for the virus to infect. The longer the virus is allowed to circulate, the more opportunity there is for mutation. Right now, hospitals are struggling to care for even non-COVID related patients due to the volume of COVID patients, most of whom are unvaccinated. The beautiful thing about the vaccine is that even if you have a breakthrough case, you are less likely to be sick enough to take up a hospital bed. God bless us all and be well.