Bass Coast residents who have suffered with COVID have urged everyone to get a booster dose to
minimise the impact of the virus on their health and their lives.
A third dose lessens the chances of someone catching COVID and also the severity of the disease,
should they do so.
A third dose also lowers the chance of a person passing on the virus to others, especially the elderly, the immuno-compromised and people who are unable to get vaccinated for medical or other reasons.
Tamara Grieve was just weeks away from giving birth to her baby when she contracted COVID-19.
“It was pretty hard because I was having trouble breathing being so pregnant and having asthma as
well,” she said.
“I just felt really tired, my chest was really tight and I was coughing up phlegm. My partner also had COVID and different symptoms, with the chills.
“I was like that for four days. It was pretty awful. I don’t think I would have been able to care for a baby while I was going through that, so I’m glad that I got COVID earlier. I even had one day when I woke up with chest pain and I couldn’t breathe. That was my worst day.”
Tamara was doubled vaxxed at the time and plans to have her third dose. She encouraged everyone to get as many doses as they were eligible for.
“I couldn’t imagine how hard it would have been if I hadn’t been vaccinated. It was pretty bad when I had been vaccinated,” she said.
Tamara received care at home from the COVID-19 Positive Pathways South Gippsland Coast Partnership delivered by Bass Coast Health on behalf of the South Gippsland Coast Partnership.
The partnership includes BCH, Gippsland Southern Health Service, South Gippsland Hospital and Kooweerup Regional Health Service.
“The staff made video calls to me daily to make sure I was OK and dropped off medical equipment, such as an oxygen reader and an asthma preventer, in my letterbox,” Tamara said.
“It was really good to have the COVID Positive Pathways Team, especially given I was pregnant. Just having them check on me was reassuring.”
After having COVID, Lynne Brown is urging her fellow Bass Coast residents to have three doses of a COVID vaccination. She was double vaxxed and about to get her third dose when she fell ill.
“I was not feeling well and I thought it was just my sinuses because I had a sore throat and a runny nose. Then I started feeling achy and had a test and I was positive,” Lynne said.
She coped with the seven days of isolation by watching television, sleeping and taking Panadol.
“I was lucky that I just got a mild dose of it because the vaccination certainly worked for me. My husband did not get COVID and he is triple jabbed,” Lynne said.
She was also cared for at home by the COVID-19 Positive Pathways South Gippsland Coast Partnership team.
“The Bass Coast Health team was absolutely fantastic. They rang me every day to see how I was going. They helped me all the way,” Lynne said.
People aged 16 and over are due for a booster dose three or months after their second dose.
Boosters are available at the Community Vaccination Clinic at Wonthaggi Town Hall (walk-in), and select pharmacies and General Practitioners.
The COVID Positive Pathways Team cares for patients in a higher risk category by age, health condition or circumstance.