Highlights
- Myla didn't know how and where she contracted the virus.
- She warns every individual to follow public health and social measures as restrictions start to ease
- Research shows COVID-19 vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe disease and death six months after vaccination, including against the highly transmissible Delta variant.
“I’d probably end up in ICU if I am not fully vaccinated because I have really bad asthma.”
Myla Allinas is grateful for taking her second Pfizer jab. But she later realised that vaccines alone are not enough to completely stop the circulation of coronavirus in the community.
After visiting several shops to buy items for her Balikbayan box, Myla gradually felt the symptoms.
"It felt like I was coming down with a bad cold. I'm finding it hard to breathe. I thought it was just because of my asthma, but I still decided to get tested."
The following day, she began to feel severely ill. Myla received a positive result and was told by the Health and Human Services to self-isolate.
"It’s horrible...how it affects your whole body. My joints, muscles, the headache and chest pain, makes me want to jump out of my bed and scream."
Myla is in the middle of her quarantine period at home. She said her illness was also taking an emotional toll for having no relatives in Australia to look after her.
"Another reason I decided to get vaccinated is that I want to travel back home when the borders reopen."
"The vaccine does give us protection, but that doesn't mean you can't become infected."
The threat of the virus has remained constant in every community. With the prospect of open borders and less COVID restrictions looming, she warns every individual to be extra careful and don't wait to feel or suffer the virus to realise how real it is.
