The first COVID-19 patient and sur­vivor in Vanua Levu is pleading for all northerners to get vaccinated.

Mohammed Saheed, 55, contracted COVID 19 on his return from In­dia last year, but was safely and securely isolated from his family for 24 days at Labasa Hospital.

“I had a cough for four days after my arrival and went to the hospital to be tested,” Mr Saheed said.

“I later received a phone call to re­turn to the hospital and await the result which turned out positive.

“Four other mem­bers of my fam­ily contracted the virus and had to stay away for 33 days.

“It was really hard for us be­cause we didn’t choose to get be infected.”

Mr Saheed said the avail­ability of a vac­cine to combat this coronavi­rus came as a huge relief.

“All adults in the family eligible to be vac­cinated had done so. They now have better chances in fighting this virus,” he said.

“When admitted at hospital my fam­ily members were given dietary food and supplementary medication that helped us recover, however, we cannot take that chance this time around and got ourselves vaccinated.”

The father of three chil­dren said they were grateful they had been vaccinated.

“The vaccine is available now and people should get vaccinat­ed,” Mr Saheed said.

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