Former covid19 patient begs Trinidad and Tobago: ‘Please take the vaccine’

Former covid19 patient Brent Teixeira has pleaded with the people of Trinidad and Tobago to get vaccinated against the virus.

During the Ministry of Health’s virtual press conference on Monday, Teixeira described the health issues he has suffered from since surviving the virus. He previously only had high blood pressure, but now has heart problems and issues with his liver, kidney, lungs and pancreas, and must take insulin twice a day.

“I now have to live with medical problems that I did not have before. I still get brain fog and I run out of energy after lunch. But I am alive.”

If it were not for the efficiency of the parallel healthcare system, he said, he would not be here.

He credits the vaccine for his survival, and said, “I want to beg my fellow Trinidadians, please go and take the vaccine. I did. My entire family did – from my 15-year-old special needs child to my 89-year-old father-in-law –without any side effects.”

He said the vaccine gives the population a fighting chance against the virus.

“It’s like a bulletproof vest.”

Teixeira was diagnosed in October 2020 and was hospitalised at Couva with severe breathing problems.

“I couldn’t walk five steps without feeling like I ran around the Savannah. Being able to breathe is something we take for granted. I certainly did.”

Teixeira described the Couva facility as a fantastic institution.

“The doctors are very professional. They treated me well. I have not one single complaint about the case that I got at that institution.”

After being discharged he was sent to the Arima hospital for post-covid19 clinic care. He said the clinic took care of the underlying conditions that covid19 left him with,

The man in the bed next to his at the Couva hospital, who he said had become a good friend, lost his battle with the virus.

“Sadly, he was his mother’s only child. We now have a mother left alone. This is something happening every day.”