“I’d rather be a little sick than on a ventilator again,” Unvaccinated single mother of four changes mind over Covid-19 vaccines after spending almost three months in hospital

America has one of the highest Covid-19 vaccination rates so far meaning that Americans are closer to reaching a herd immunity getting closer to the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the data provided by the CDC, nearly 255 million people are vaccinated with one dose of the vaccine, more than 216 million are fully vaccinated and more than 96 million are boosted.

In the period when the Covid-19 numbers seem stable and parents of children under the age of five are waiting for the Covid-19 vaccine approval for their kids, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are two categories of people in which the vaccination rate is still lower compared to other categories of people.

Numerous studies have shown that Covid-19 vaccines don’t have negative impact on pregnant mothers or the babies, and pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are advised to get the shot as soon as possible in an effort to prevent possible severe condition for the mothers or the babies if they get infected with the virus. Despite everything, many of them are still vaccine hesitant.

The 30-year-old single Texas mother of four children C. Hall was one of those who decided not to get vaccinated against Covid-19 while pregnant, exposing herself to a greater Covid-19 risk. She was eight months pregnant in December last year when she started feeling sick and tested positive on Covid-19, but everything got pretty complicated when she also tested positive on flu and developed pneumonia. She was hospitalized and put on oxygen support.

At the end of the month, Hall felt her water break while trying to catch her breath. Taking into consideration the fact that she was Covid-19 positive with flu and pneumonia and on oxygen support, she started panicking because it was still too early to deliver her baby. “My water just broke,” Hall said. “I started crying, and freaking out. I was like, ‘no, no, no, no, this can’t happen, it’s too early.’”

Soon after, Hall gave birth and the baby was in good health, but Hall’s condition started worsening as her body was overwhelmed fighting the virus and she was put on ventilator support and then medically induced into a coma. Until late February, Hall was battling the deadly virus in hospital and she was finally reunited with her children and the newborn holding the baby for the first time in two months.

“That was when I started crying,” Hall said. “Because the baby was here. So, I got to spend a little time with him.”

Speaking to KLBK, Hall decided to share the story with the public to raise awareness about the virus hoping to inspire other pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and be protected. She hopes no other woman will experience what she went through in the last couple of months.

Hall said she was overcome with emotion getting to see her children after being apart for so long. Hall also said that the experience changed her life forever and now has a different perspective about the vaccine.

“I’m getting vaccinated.,” Hall said. “I decided, because I do not want to go through what I went through. I’d rather be a little sick than on a ventilator again.”