Banks DIH executive urges persons to get vaccinated
-cites own battle with COVID-19
Banks DIH Executive, Carlton Joao, is encouraging persons to take their COVID-19 vaccines after a battle with the virus last year.
Joao took to social media some days ago and detailed his experience with COVID-19 and how he was able to cope after spending days at an isolation facility and subsequently the country’s Intensive Care Unit.
He noted that on Good Friday in 2020 he was tested for the virus and subsequently got the call that his results were returned as positive. He was subsequently picked up by officials who were in their protective wear and taken to the Diamond isolation facility. At the time he was experiencing some chest and joint pains and struggled to cope.
“I was ill. I had some chest pains and joint pains. Diamond was a difficult place. I knew no one and the doctors struggled to cope as the population grew quickly at the Centre,” Joao said in the post. Further he noted that it took a lot mentally to fight the virus as, like many persons, he worried about a number of things including family,
No recorded cases of blood clots due to vaccination - Health Minister
Guyana has not recorded any cases of blood clots in persons who have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony.
The health minister made these remarks during his daily COVID-19 update in response to questions that were asked regarding public concern about reports of people in other countries suffering blood clots after receiving their vaccines.
Dr Anthony noted that Guyana had received doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from Barbados, the Indian Government, and the COVAX facility, and had started the campaign using the AstraZeneca shots. The authorities here, he added, are satisfied that the no instances of clotting have been recorded locally.
“We were satisfied that when we used it in Guyana we did not have any cases of blood clotting and we have been monitoring for these cases so we are very pleased with the results that we have had with these vaccines so far and we will continue to use them,” the minister was quoted as saying.
In relation to the investigations that were conducted in a number of other countries, he noted that the use of the vaccines was paused in a number of countries to allow a proper assessment to be carried out. Anthony pointed out that the World Health Organization through its advisory body called SAGE (Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization) had conducted a review of the vaccine and concluded that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. “We have had a number of other expert entities that have reviewed the vaccine such as the European medical regulatory authority and they concluded similarly the vaccine, the benefits outweigh the risks. In the UK a similar assessment was done and again that was the conclusion,” the minister said. friends and his job.
However, after settling into a routine his condition began to improve slowly, but this all changed suddenly one night when he experienced a “coughing episode.”
“The pain was excruciating. The doctors came and checked. They gave me meds. A call came and advised that an ambulance was coming for me. I asked where to and they said I was going to the COVID 19 ICU at GPH,” the post read.
Upon arrival at the hospital, Joao detailed that he climbed the stairs in pain to the first floor which housed the male ICU that had six beds of which three were occupied, one of those patients being a work colleague. Doctors all clad in their “space suits” began to run a number of tests on him as he noted that they were professional and thorough which put his mind at ease.
“They gave me a series of meds and I started to feel better immediately. Within 12 hours of admission to the ICU they transferred me out to an adjacent step down room. I met Neaz Subhan in this location as he struggled with recovery from COVID. It was there on the Thursday afternoon that I witnessed the doctors valiantly try to save the life of my Banks colleague. Unfortunately, he passed.”
As time progressed he explained that doctors continued treating him and by Saturday he was tested again for the virus which returned negative and following a second test later he was released. The head doctor at the time had advised him of the hospital’s policy to transport patients home as it was observed that persons were refusing to pick up their recovered family members.
Joao wrote of the “horrible” stigma he experienced and likened it to what the first HIV/AIDS patients may have had to endure.
“I would continue to shower praises on Dr. Shaw and the Medical team of a Doctors and Nurses at the GPHC Covid-19 ICU. They were excellent by any measure. They worked really hard to help you,” he said while urging persons to protect themselves and to take the vaccine as soon as possible