SARA BERNARD
“I'm all about Risk Management. It’s how I live my life! It's how I was trained and it's my expertise as a Chemical and Process Engineer. Risk Management is about considering the severity of an incident happening combined with the likelihood of that event occurring. So although you can die in a plane crash, the likelihood of that happening is pretty low so if you won an all-expense paid trip to Dubai most of us wouldn’t think twice about hopping on the flight!
I remember having a heated argument with my mother about eight years ago at the beginning of what was supposed to be a fun family trip to Tobago. I’d just strapped my six-month-old into the car seat, which of course I’d included as an add-on when I booked the rental car online. About five minutes into the drive my daughter started to cry. We checked on her and nothing was wrong. So I left her in the car seat. She amped up the decibels and my mom insisted that we take her out of the car seat and comfort her. But to me it was simple! The risk to my daughter in a car crash without a car seat is way bigger than any discomfort she’d feel by being in a car seat. It’s a no-brainer! So I never compromise on car seat use.
So when it came to getting the COVID-19 vaccine it was another no-brainer. All of my closest family have comorbidities including hypertension and diabetes. So if my husband or parents got coronavirus the likelihood of their cases being severe was high. So again, it was really simple: the risk of death or hospitalization to me, my children, my husband and my parents by not taking the vaccine is much higher than that of any complications or side-effects from taking the vaccine.
It was a really simple risk management decision for me, and I chose to be vaccinated!”
NICOLE GALT
“First of all, it was to ensure that if by chance my husband or I contracted the virus, that we would not be hospitalized, and secondly, that we would not be carriers of this virus to the detriment of others.
I have to admit, we were a bit hesitant at first with conflicting news all around us and given that my husband has co-morbidities. However, after doing our own research, we realised that it was truly a safer option to be vaccinated.
We strongly feel that if you are fully vaccinated, there is a better chance of protecting yourself, from hospitalization and protecting those around you, especially your loved ones.
Now our daily lives are less restricted armed with knowledge that being vaccinated we can operate more freely even with the imposed restrictions.
We are both retired and had hoped to travel. However, this dream was put on hold, pending the resumption of travel abroad, and the acceptance of countries to allow us entry and be able to return to our homeland feeling secure that we could reenter.
Almost two years have been lost for us. The year 2021 marks the second year of this new normal in which hopefully, we will begin to see the positive impact of the goals towards herd immunity, and we encourage readers to consider the threat to family and friends by choosing to not vaccinate.
There is recognised data published which suggests that most of the deaths have been caused by not taking the vaccine and yet, we still have persons who are very fearful of the vaccine. We must find ways and means to get this message across to those persons.
Let us all play our part in getting our country back to some level of normalcy.”
SHAZAHRA KHAN
“Vaccination can mean the difference between life and death. I am a mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister and friend. Many of my friends and family have different medical issues which can prove to be fatal for them should they contract the COVID-19 virus. I refuse to be the reason I do not have them around anymore. I also encourage those who could get vaccinated to do so. We are all fully aware that being vaccinated does not mean that you are totally immune to getting the virus, however it would mean that your body has a chance to fight it.
I also believe that vaccination is the only way that life would return to some semblance of normalcy. This virus has rocked the world to its very core, economically and otherwise. Mass vaccination is the only way to recover from this and whilst I understand that the decision to become vaccinated is a personal choice, I wish more people would make the decision to. The question about the short time as it relates to the creation of this vaccine is often asked and the answer is simple…modern medicine. Isn’t that wonderful? I am proud to live in a time where the blueprint to save my life and the life of those I love, was readily available and was used to create this vaccine.
Nothing about tomorrow with regards to the COVID-19 virus is certain however we can do our part to shape what sort of future we would like for ourselves and our families by getting vaccinated. I got vaccinated because it means the difference between life and death for myself and those I love.
For you and your loved ones, get vaccinated today!”