Isabel Hiserodt

Isabel Hiserodt.

Individuals ages 19 and under make up about 16% of all COVID-19 cases reported in the state, according to Friday figures from the Arizona Department of Health Services. They account for 28 of the state’s 17,000 COVID-19 deaths. 

But even knowing all this, Sunnyslope High School senior Isabel Hiserodt knows people her age aren't totally immune to the virus. So although the risk for her age group wasn’t high, she decided to get the shot in late March and is scheduled to get her dose later this week.  

"For me, it was more like a priority to reduce my risk of spreading it to other people who are in vulnerable groups and if by getting the vaccine I could do that, I was happy to do so," Hiserodt said. 

Brock Aguilar-Hoyle, 17, who identifies as half-white and Chicano, says he thought about medical injustices inflicted on communities of colors such as forced sterilizations and the Tuskegee syphilis study. But ultimately the Central High School junior decided the benefits outweighed the risks.

"Yes I might not die from this, I might not get really sick from this, but the people who will, this is why I took the vaccine," he said. "I believed it was the best thing I could do to protect the people around me, and my grandparents and protect my teacher."

Once he’s fully vaccinated, Aguilar-Hoyle is looking forward to hanging out with friends, playing sports safely and visiting his great-grandma for the first time in a year.

Hiserodt is looking forward to her life going somewhat back to normal, being able to see her grandma and spending time with friends.

Brock Aguilar-Hoyle

Brock Aguilar-Hoyle, a 17-year-old Central High School student, received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this month. He says he did to protect the people around him including his grandparents and teacher.

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