Young, fit.x. & suffering

Survivors tell of virus ordeal to win over vaccine doubters

I can’t even walk round the shops without getting exhausted

I’m a healthy young guy.. I thought I was going to die

QUINCY DWAMENA

I now have asthma.. I fear I’ll never be the same again

ELLA HARWOOD

THE harrowing tales of young Covid-19 survivors are being used in a campaign to convince vaccine doubters to get jabbed.

In a film out today three people tell how they believed being young, fit and healthy would protect them from the worst effects of the virus. One fit thirty-something ended up in hospital fearing he would die, while two more survivors are living with the devastating effects of long Covid. All say their brush with the potential killer has changed their lives forever and they are begging others not to make the same mistake of refusing the jab. Latest figures show hospitals have seen a rise in unvaccinated young adults admitted with coronavirus. People aged 18 to 34 now make up more than one in five of those being hospitalised.

The video, filmed in London, is a rallying cry to youngsters to be vaccinated before they get ill. Support worker Quincy Dwamena, 31, who spent two weeks in hospital , says he thought he did not need to get jabbed.

“I’m a healthy, young guy,” he said. “I put off getting the vaccine because I thought the way I was living my life would mean there would be little to no chance of me catching the virus, or it would have little effect.

“But I ended up being hospitalised and thought I was going to die. Don’t put yourself and others at risk, I wish I’d got mine as soon as it was offered.”

Megan Higgins, 25, a special needs tutor from London, is still suffering from long covid after being struck down at the end of last year and she thought she would “brush it off ”.

“It’s been eight months since I tested positive, and I can’t walk around the shops without getting exhausted,” she said. “Long Covid is debilitating so please, get vaccinated. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what I have.”

Another survivor, illustrator Ella Harwood, 23, says she was confined to her bed for seven months. “Before I caught the virus, I was super active and had no health concerns,” she said.

“But I now suffer with asthma and a number of allergies

“I fear I’ll never be the same again but I’m making progress and I’m very grateful that I’m still alive. Please get vaccinated if you haven’t already.”

Having two doses of the vaccine approximately halves the risk of experiencing symptoms which last more than 28 days after infection, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Public Health England figures show people aged between 16 and 29 are most likely to get long Covid, but vaccine uptake among this age group is lower than average.

Dr Emeka Okorocha, who narrates the video, said: “Nothing has shaken me like the sight of young, otherwise healthy adults, being rushed into hospitals with Covid-19.”

All at-risk people aged 12 to 15 in England have also been invited for a vaccination and young people are encouraged to take up the offer before returning to school in September.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Vaccines are building a wall of defence in the UK and allowing us to safely live without restrictions.”