'You were right': Mum, 45, dies of Delta strain after refusing vaccine
A grandmother in the United States has spoken of her pain after her daughter declined to have a Covid vaccination only to die months later from the virulent Delta coronavirus strain.
Missouri mother of two, Tricia Jones, was wary of getting the Covid vaccine after seeing her mother suffer from side-effects after getting immunised.
Speaking to local outlet OzarksFirst, Tricia's mother Deborah said she hoped the tragedy can help convince others the importance of getting vaccinated against the disease.
"She was afraid of the side effects, I think. You hear a lot of horror stories. I, myself, when I had the shot, it was rough, so it scared her and freaked her out. So she didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t convince her," Deborah said.
According to her family, Tricia became unwell with the virus after her son became infected with the Delta variant at school.
Both parents got sick, but Tricia's health continued to deteriorate and she passed away on June 9.
"I never would have thought I would lose my daughter at 45," Deborah said.
With 66 per cent of adults in America having already received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the US is among the most vaccinated populations in the world.
However conservative or Republican leaning states – like Missouri – have displayed a greater level of vaccine hesitancy thanks in part to the bitter politicisation of the pandemic in the country.
When Tricia became infected with the Delta strain, she apparently realised the error of her ways.
"After she got it [the virus] she said, 'Mum you were right, about the shot, about masks, being diligent and all that.’
"I was like, ‘I don’t want to be right. I want you to be well. That’s all that matters'."
Ultimately the 45-year-old was hospitalised on May 13, put on a ventilator and passed away weeks later.
She is one of more than 600,000 people to succumb to the virus in the US, which has the world's highest official death toll.
As well as her son, Tricia left behind 18-year-old Adriana who lives with autism and spent days in the hospital with her mum as she got worse.
"There were so many days where I would just stand there next to my mum and say, ‘Wake up, mama, wake up.’ She would never wake up, and I just wish that she would," Adriana told OzarksFirst.
Like her grandmother, she hopes the story will help others avoid such a devastating and potentially avoidable result.
"I don’t think anyone should have to go through what we went through. Especially with the variant," she said.
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