Family of Vancouver woman in induced coma due to COVID-19 urges skeptics to get vaccinated
The family of a Vancouver woman who’s been hospitalized with COVID-19 is speaking out about the importance of getting vaccinated.
Anna Joseph has been in an induced coma and breathing with the help of a ventilator in Vancouver General Hospital’s intensive care unit for nearly a week.
It’s unclear how the woman in her mid-50s contracted the coronavirus. Her adult son was also infected and spent two days in the ICU before being released to recover at home.
Neither of them have been vaccinated, which came as a surprise to Anna’s brother, Tyrone.
“In my household, we were anxiously awaiting approval for the vaccines,” he tells CTV News Vancouver. “I just assumed my extended family had similar thoughts. It turns out, none of them did.”
Joseph says only a handful of his relatives are immunized against COVID-19. He attributes the hesitancy to misinformation about vaccine safety that has circulated online.
“I got a lot of misinformation from Facebook,” says Sheldon Joseph, Tyrone’s older brother.
“I had reason to believe getting vaccinated was going to do me a lot more harm than good.”
After learning most of them had not been vaccinated, Tyrone took it upon himself to discuss vaccine safety with as many relatives as possible. In doing so, he convinced his 28-year-old son, along with Sheldon – a self-proclaimed anti-vaxxer – to get the jab.
“Having a conversation with (Tyrone) and seeing my sister in the hospital prompted me to change my mind,” Sheldon explains. “So, I got vaccinated two days ago.”
He says he has since convinced his two children, 31 and 34, to get their first doses as well.
“It’s really unfortunate it takes someone close to you to be affected, to really start reconsidering the information you’ve received that might have led you to hesitancy,” says Tyrone.
In addition to online misinformation, Joseph – who is Indigenous – believes another factor causing his family to be hesitant about getting vaccinated is distrust in the provincial government. A 2020 report, titled In Plain Sight, found widespread racism against Indigenous people in the B.C. health-care system.
In a tweet that’s been viewed thousands of times, Joseph is now sharing his family’s ordeal, in hopes other Indigenous families will look past any skepticism of the health-care system and seriously consider getting vaccinated.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow, but do not put your family at risk. I changed my mind. It was just like getting the flu shot,” says Sheldon.
As for his sister, Tyrone says doctors are hopeful she’ll recover, but are not providing the family with a timeline.
“They expect it to be a long haul,” he says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.