Don’t be blasé, mother warns parents after daughter dies of Covid
A DEVASTATED mother has warned parents not to assume children don’t die from Covid after her daughter passed away on the day she was due to be vaccinated.
Jorja Halliday, 15, died in hospital four days after receiving a positive PCR result.
Her heartbroken mothertracey said she fears people have become too “blasé” about the virus, with many parents assuming their children will simply recover.
Ms Halliday said: “She was going to have the jab on Tuesday. But because she tested positive on Saturday she was isolating.
“When her isolation period was over she was going to get it.
“The day that she passed away was the day that she would have had it done.”
The eldest of five children, Jorja died with her mother by her side, holding her hand.
Preliminary results from the medical examiner at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth indicate that Jorja had Covid myocarditis, heart inflammation caused by the virus.
Before she died, Jorja was studying for her GCSES atthe Portsmouth Academy where school principal Rachel Grey said she will be “greatly missed”.
The coronavirus vaccine is currently being offered to children 12 years old and over.
Last night, the spotlight again turned on care home workers after Health Secretary Sajid Javid said those who refuse the vaccine should “get out and get another job”. He brushed aside appeals from the National Care Association to delay the November 11 deadline for staff to have both jabs.
He stressed that doing so would have a knock-on effect on the
NHS if homes have to reduce resident numbers.
Mr Javid told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If you are not going to get vaccinated then why are you working in care?”
‘She was going to have the jab’