Don’t be scared of the vaccine; be scared of getting Covid

The pandemic has certainly been winding down with cases, deaths and hospitalisations significantly lower, but it is definitely far from over, and the debate between the vaxxed and the unvaxxed is taking a sour turn.

Vaccinations against Covid have continued, but so has the hesitancy, fake news and conspiracy theories.

I won’t lie: some did get to me, but after speaking to experts I finally made a decision, not only for me, but to protect my son as well.

After my first jab, I sent my family pictures. My dad was disappointed that instead of having faith in God to heal the world, I actively decided to meet him halfway and take the help offered.

I come from a family of believers and for my dad, whatever is happening in the world resonates with the book of Revelations; the mark of the beast, hope that justice will triumph over evil, and encouragement of steadfast resistance to imperial and economic oppression.

My parents do not want to get the jab because they heard about a friend of a friend’s brother who died from it, or someone whose hand was chopped off – but mostly it is the fear of the end times.

The recent campaigns; “no vaccine, no mjolo” or “no vaccine no alcohol” has definitely heightened their fear of getting the jab, but getting vaccinated is not as scary or life threatening as getting the virus itself, which has killed
more than 80 000 people so far.

Although it might seem like fear mongering, imagine having to choose between seeing your family and grandkids and living your life to the fullest – or possibly dying from Covid complications.

Don’t be scared of the vaccine; be scared of getting Covid and spreading the virus.

We are not out of this pandemic and we all need to play our part to end it.

Getting protected against the coronavirus is still undeniably the right choice for your health and the safety of others.

If you are one of the million people still waiting for their shot, do not let the recent news scare you or make you think twice – get whatever vaccine is available.

While it may sound like a cliché, Covid almost killed me. I had a pretty severe brush with the virus and in a space of two weeks, everything seemed to move by quicker.

After I tested positive for Covid it was already too late for me. One second, I couldn’t get up from bed and the next, I couldn’t breathe at all. I didn’t know I had bronchitis, which made things worse.

My chest was closing, I couldn’t breathe, and I could feel my body giving up on me because I couldn’t even eat.

I wished I could stop breathing because the pain was unbearable, every breath, yawn and cough was accompanied by excruciating pain.

We laugh about it now, but at the time I felt like my soul was leaving my body and I decided to make sure my funeral covers and life cover were fully paid.

I called my service providers just to find out if I was in arrears and to make sure my mom knew what to do should I die.

After my experience with Covid, I don’t ever want to see myself in that kind of entanglement again and I want to educate everyone on the vaccines until they decide to get their jabs, so that we can all live our lives to the fullest.