Why have others gotten vaccinated?

Did you know…?

COVID IMPACT ON SCHOOL OPERATIONS

• Our school offers access to those traditionally underserved – access to an excellent high school education leading to college access, access to careers, and access to a deeper faith, in a safe and healthy environment.  Unfortunately, COVID-19 has impacted us in many ways.
• Due to COVID-19, freshmen have not worked at work partners for the last 2 years, significantly impacting a critical component of our Cristo Rey model.
• While we have solid financial health, not having our freshmen work is not sustainable, nor consistent with fulfilling our mission.
• Most of the 2020-21 academic year was done virtually with significant negative implications for all involved.  Ensuring safe, in-classroom learning has been a major focus this 2021-2022 academic year. 
• That is why for the 2022-23 academic year, students attending Detroit Cristo Rey will be required to be vaccinated by the beginning of July 2022.
• Our strict protocols this academic year (e.g., masking & requiring vaccinations for extracurriculars, limited large gatherings including all school masses) has prevented any outbreaks at the school even during recent community surges.
• The mental health and social/emotional implications of the pandemic on our entire society are serious, and yet to be fully understood.

CORPORATE WORK STUDY PROGRAM (CWSP)

• More than 70% of our CWSP (Corporate Work Study Program) jobs currently require the vaccine, and that number is forecasted to increase to 90% as more companies finalize their safe return to in-person work protocols.
• All students at Cristo Rey Network schools are required to work in the CWSP as an integral part of their learning experience to make them COLLEGE READY and CAREER PREPARED.
• The support received through the CWSP, covers more than 50% of your student’s roughly $15,000 tuition cost.
• At the national Cristo Rey Network level, 65% of schools are in markets where 70% - 100% of business partners require a vaccine.
• A majority of Cristo Rey Network schools (21) are requiring at least full series vaccination for students.

HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE

• Currently, over 1,000 colleges and universities require the COVID-19 vaccine for residential students.  Our mission is to get our students TO and THROUGH college.  
• While 93% of the Faculty & Staff have confirmed vaccination documentation with the school, only 65% of our students do, though this % is steadily increasing (up from 46% in November of 2021).
• Many of our students choose not to eat during lunch because of concerns with removing their masks.
• If we got to a 90% vaccination rate among our students, we could comfortably lift the mask requirements even this academic year which would likely improve in classroom instruction and learning.

RELIGION

• • • The teachings of the Catholic Church, and most other faiths, DO NOT prohibit COVID-19 vaccinations.  In fact, Pope Francis has publicly stated: "I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine.  It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others."

1. 1. Pope Francis and six Cardinals and Archbishops from the US and Latin America have come together for a message of unity in support of COVID-19 vaccines and access for all.
   2. Here are two useful links obtained from the USCCB:
      1. COVID-19 Vaccines: Moral & Ethical Concerns (video)
      2. MORAL CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE NEW COVID-19 VACCINES Note that the USCCB makes explicitly clear at the bottom of page 4, top of page 5 that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines did not use morally compromised cell lines in the design, development or production of those vaccines. They also note that confirmatory tests did involve such lines.  But the vaccines do not come from aborted embryos. Those same confirmatory tests are used on many and varied everyday medicines.

EFFECTIVENESS PER CDC

• New outbreaks in China, Europe, and the Northeast US remind us that the risks are still significant. 

 

• Per the CDC: Coinciding with increased circulation of the Omicron variant, COVID-19–associated hospitalization rates among children and adolescents aged 0–17 years increased rapidly in late December 2021, especially among children aged 0–4 years who are not yet eligible for vaccination. Throughout the periods of Delta and Omicron predominance, hospitalization rates remained lower among fully vaccinated adolescents aged 12–17 years than among unvaccinated adolescents.

OTHER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This AARP Article discusses 10 falsehoods about the vaccine: https://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-2020/covid-vaccine-myths.html 

Below are some statements from Pope Francis and Archbishop Vigneron in support of getting vaccinated.

You should also ask your doctor!

See how Pope Francis and other church leaders have reiterated the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19.  Please share this important message

with others, and prayerfully consider if you have not yet received your vaccination (Spanish with English subtitles):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY5rwTnJF0U

While many organizations like the CDC, the FDA, and many other medical and health authorities have offered recommendations in favor of getting the vaccine, as a Catholic school and one of 38 schools in the Cristo Rey Network, we also follow the direction of the Vatican and the USCCB:

See this article which includes a useful summary of the position of the Catholic Church (paragraph 4):

"Both the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have said Catholics can receive the vaccines in good conscience given the lack of alternatives and the goal of alleviating suffering — even while objecting to research with even a remote connection to abortion."

Here are two links obtained from the USCCB. Note that in one of them, the 7 page paper from December 2020, the USCCB makes explicitly clear at the bottom of page 4, top of page 5 that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines did not use morally compromised cell lines in the design, development or production of those vaccines. They also note that confirmatory tests did involve such lines.  But the vaccines do not come from aborted embryos. Those same confirmatory tests are used on many and varied everyday medicines. 

https://www.usccb.org/resources/covid-19-vaccines-moral-ethical-concerns

https://www.usccb.org/resources/moral-considerations-covid-vaccines_0.pdf

Pope Francis suggests people have moral obligation to take coronavirus vaccine 

Jan 11, 2021

by Joshua J. McElwee |  Vatican  

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-francis-suggests-people-have-moral-obligation-take-coronavirus-vaccine 

ROME — Pope Francis suggested that people have a moral obligation to receive one of the new coronavirus vaccines as soon as possible, revealing in a new interview that he expects to get his own first dose this week.

"I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine," the pontiff said in a Jan. 10 interview for Italy's TG5 news program. "It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others."

The pope, who said he has already made an appointment with the Vatican's health service for his own inoculation, also lamented that some people are saying they will not take a vaccine.

"I do not understand why some say that this could be a dangerous vaccine," said Francis. "If the doctors are presenting this to you as a thing that will go well and doesn't have any special dangers, why not take it?"

"There is a suicidal denialism that I would not know how to explain but today people must take the vaccine," the pontiff continued.

Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron joined his brother bishops of the Michigan dioceses to release the following statement on March 3, 2021:

https://www.aod.org/announcements-newsroom/newsroom/2020/december/statement-regarding-covid-19-vaccines

“It is morally permissible to receive the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. Neither of these vaccines has used cell lines originating in tissue taken from aborted babies in their design, development, and production. However, both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine did use such a cell line in the confirmatory testing. This connection to abortion is very remote, however, and it is important to keep in mind that there are varying levels of responsibility. Greater moral responsibility lies with the researchers than with those who receive the vaccine. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has indicated that it is morally permissible to be vaccinated if there are no alternatives and there are serious health risks. Such serious health risks are present due to the current pandemic."

Vaccine Information Sessions Replays

1. Sept 14 (Tuesday) 6:00-7:00 English via Zoom Dr. Custer & Dr. Yoder
2. Sept 16 (Thursday) 6:00-7:00pm Spanish via Zoom Ana Martinez - Detroit Health Department with a Registered Nurse
3. Sept 22 (Wednesday) 6:00-7:00 English via Zoom Dr. Adetomiwa
4. Sept 23 (Thursday) 6:00-7:00 Spanish via Zoom Dr. Arana

Kingdom Apostolic Ministries Vaccination Education Forum:

Watch this informative vaccine education discussion that was organized by our neighbors from Kingdom Apostolic Ministries on W. Fort St. and Junction. 

It features Dr. Jonathan Williams, M.D., a Detroit Native and graduate of the Wayne State University School of Medicine who is currently an Infectious Disease Control Specialist with Henry Ford Health Systems, & Mr. Stonish Pierce, the Chief Operating Officer of Holy Cross Health in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 

Click here to see the video!

Thank you for your continued support in keeping our school a safe and secure environment providing an exceptional in-person learning experience for your children.  If we all work together, and all do our part, we will get through this as a stronger community.

Be seen with the vaccine!    ~    ¡Viva con la vacuna!

¡VIVA CRISTO REY!

Christopher J. Lynch

President 

Detroit Cristo Rey High School