Detroit teen wants to be vaccine role model to encourage others to get the shot

DPCSD student combats misinformation, hesitancy to be vaccinated

DETROIT – A Metro Detroit teenager is rolling up her sleeve and making herself a model for getting the COVID vaccine.



Rachel Kabala knows many young people who are eligible to receive the vaccine are hesitant and afraid.

“When I was going to get vaccinated, I was excited,” Kabala recalled. “When I got there, I got more excited.”

Kabala, 16, attends high school Detroit Public Schools Community District and she’s made it her mission to get her peers vaccinated too.

“I felt like I was living through history,” Kabala said. “It was amazing.”

She’s done her research, she’s collected her thoughts , put her feelings in writing and she has become a warrior against misinformation amongst her peers and their parents.

READ: Metro Detroit doctors ready to help patients overcome vaccine hesitancy

Kabala is hopeful that Michiganders will see her and hear her and choose to believe truth instead of choosing not to.

She’s considering going to college to study bio-medical engineering with a dual major in math.

You can watch Paula Tutman’s full story in the video above.


About the Authors:

Paula Tutman is an Emmy award-winning journalist who came to Local 4 in 1992. She's married and the stepmother of three beautiful and brilliant daughters. Her personal philosophy in life, love and community is, "Do as much as you can possibly do, not as little as you can possibly get away with".

Dane is a producer and media enthusiast. He previously worked freelance video production and writing jobs in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts. Dane graduated from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.