IT is the pandemic statistic that stands out as clear as day – 90 PER CENT of Covid patients in intensive care have not been fully jabbed.
Five million are yet to come forward for their first vaccine, while another nine million have not had a booster.
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week said it is “absolutely crazy” there are two million vaccine slots unfilled, England’s Chief Medical Officer Sir Chris Whitty urged people to overcome their hesitancy – before they regret it.
He believes many are not anti-vaxxers but simply victims of misinformation and misunderstanding.
For example, many think Covid will only harm the elderly, yet the average age of critically ill patients in hospital is 50 for the unvaccinated.
Here are some of the stories of some who realised it was wrong to reject the jab – when it was too late . . .
IN COMA AGED 22
FFION BARNETT thought she was safe from the consequences of Covid because she was young.
But in August, the student, from Tonypandy, Rhondda, ended up in a coma for five days, lost her hair and needed to learn to walk and talk again.
She said: “I now want to raise awareness of how Covid isn’t just dangerous for the elderly.”
BELIEVED ANTI-VAX LIE
PREGNANT Sadie Exley, 24, died after being talked out of getting the jab by anti-vaxxers.
Her dad David, 57, said: “They told Sadie that if she had the vaccination she would kill the baby.”
Sadie, from West Yorks, who had a two-year-old child, died on December 3. Doctors were able to save her unborn son, Elliot, delivering him by caesarean section.
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‘I WISH I’D HAD JAB’
AFTER refusing the vaccine, volunteer carer Glenn Barrett’s final words to nurses were: “I wish I’d had the jab.”
The 51-year-old dad, from Cleethorpes, Lincs, decided against the vaccine even though he was at greater risk due to a compromised immune system.
His cousin, Ken Meech, believes he would still “be with us today” if he’d had the jab.
MUM’S REGRET
CHELSIE KING spent five weeks in a coma after refusing the vaccine because she was unsure of how it would affect her unborn child.
The 27-year-old, from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, whose son Raphael was delivered while she was in the coma, said: “I do regret not having the jab when it was offered. The truth is we could have both died.”
‘NO NEED TO WORRY’
MUM-of-two Nuria Daniela Gomes thought “there was no need to worry about it” when she tested positive for Covid at the start of December.
But a week later the 38-year-old died after struggling for breath at home.
Nuria, from Liverpool, who was described as fit, had put off the jab after reading anti-vax posts on social media.
BODYBUILDER WAITED
JOHN EYERS felt he was too fit to suffer – and told his parents he wasn’t going to be a “guinea pig” for the vaccine and would wait for more safety details.
The 42-year-old flooring specialist, from Southport, Merseyside, took part in bodybuilding competitions and raced in triathlons.
But Covid left him gasping for air before he tragically died in July.
DIDN’T FIND THE TIME
SECURITY guard Martin Mulcahy put off going for his vaccination because he “just never got round to doing it”.
The 50-year-old from Nuneaton, Warks, was buried two days before Christmas after catching Covid at the end of October.
His partner, Tracey Lea, 45, said she doesn’t want anyone else to suffer the same tragedy.
FIT AND YOUNG
A DAD of two with no health problems spent nine days in intensive care after “under- estimating” coronavirus.
Adam Sharp, 32, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, admitted: “I didn’t think I would need the vaccine because I kept so well.”
He was placed on a ventilator and doctors told his wife he might not pull through.
Adam said: “I would advise everyone to get their vaccine.”
