- Anwar Davids, 67, succumbed to Covid-19 complications just two days before he was due to get his second vaccine shot.
- The Davids family says 10 people live in their Lansdowne house and miraculously two of them have not contracted the virus.
- A UWC professor says the Pfizer vaccine requires two doses for the immune system to react optimally to an infection.
A Cape Town pensioner died just days before he was due to get his second dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
The family of Anwar Davids, 67, said he had received the first dose of the vaccine in May, and they were quite alarmed when he was rushed to hospital.
His children, Tasneem and Nishaat, told News24 they were hopeful that other people would get the vaccine and spend as much time with their loved ones as possible as "death has no expiry date".
"I suppose it was his time. I just hate that this pandemic has robbed so many people of loved ones. I never got to say goodbye to my dad," Nishaat said.
On Sunday, 27 June, Nishaat had been hospitalised, the same day her dad started complaining of symptoms.
She added:
According to the family, Davids' diarrhoea and headaches got worse during the week, and by 30 June they had called an ambulance. He was taken to Victoria Hospital, where he underwent a Covid-19 test. The test came back negative, but the hospital kept him for observation.
"We are 10 people that live in our Lansdowne house, but because our house is relatively big, everyone was able to isolate in their own space inside the house just as a precaution," Tasneem said.
"But the doctor had advised me that I should get myself tested as I started to develop body aches and headaches."
According to Tasneem, two days later the doctor informed the family that hospital staff would be doing another Covid-19 test on their dad as they "... weren't happy with his breathing".
By 3 July, Tasneem and her dad had both tested positive for Covid-19.
According to the Davids family, they received the news of their father's death on 6 July.
Tasneem said:
At that stage, Nishaat had been in ICU, still recovering as her oxygen saturation levels had dropped. She had severe diarrhoea and vomiting, was struggling to breathe and had not yet heard that her dad had died.
Tasneem said it was hard informing her sister via WhatsApp that their dad had died. She said it was even more difficult having to video call her sister for his janazah as she wasn't able to leave her hospital bed yet.
Nishaat said she was "beyond numb" and "heartbroken" that she couldn't attend her dad's janazah.
"Laying in a hospital bed and watching my dad leave this earth for the last time was devastating. I still can't wrap my head around it. I never got to properly say goodbye to the man I've loved my entire life. Covid has robbed us of that, and I'll forever remember that day," an emotional Nishaat said.
She added:
According to Nishaat, last Friday was a bittersweet day as she celebrated her 30th birthday without her dad.
"He was a wonderful man, very talkative and always willing to have conversations with people he encountered," said Nishaat.
The family said it will take some time before they recover from their sudden loss but stressed that other families should not hesitate to get their Covid-19 vaccine shots.
Professor Burtram Fielding, University of the Western Cape (UWC) director for research development, said the Pfizer vaccine requires two doses for the immune system to react optimally to an infection.
Sick
"During the development of the Pfizer vaccine last year, while still being tested for efficacy, the company discovered that after one shot of the jab the immune response was a weak response and not very effective in some people.
"People could still become sick, develop severe Covid symptoms and even [die]. However, as the studies progressed and... people [got] a second shot, the immune response of the body became much stronger, which is why we are seeing a drastic reduction in severe disease and death after the second shot," added Fielding.
According to the professor, the vaccine is all about the optimal stimulation of the immune response.
He said the second vaccine shot acted as a "boost" to the immune system.
"One has to get the vaccine to optimally prepare the body for the attack of the virus", said Fielding.
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