The 90% Project is an NZ Herald initiative that aims to reach all New Zealanders to get the word out about vaccination so we can save lives and restore freedoms. Video / NZ Herald
A former anti-vaxxer who tested positive for Covid-19, and whose partner also caught the virus and ended up in hospital, says he regrets not getting vaccinated.
Describing his experience with the virus, John Koutsimanis said: "It was pain, and feeling hot and cold and then more pain, and then thinking you are sweating it out but it just doesn't go away."
Koutsimanis told Newstalk ZB he had had the virus for two weeks, and was just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
He believed he caught the virus from a tradie, who had also tested positive, that he was working with at a building site.
"At first I didn't feel a thing, that was on a Tuesday, and I only started feeling something on the Sunday," Koutsimanis said.
He said he did not want to get the jab because of the information he had seen on Facebook and material sent to him on social media about concerns and dangers about the vaccines.
"Obviously a lot of that stuff resonated with me because...the explanation from the political side was nowhere near as good as these explanations, and that's basically how I looked at it," Koutsimanis said.
"I thought it's my body, I can choose whatever I want."
But he said he no longer had any of these reservations and now "can't wait" to get the vaccine.
"I would never want to go through this ever again, and also I've got a daughter that I've encouraged to not getting the vaccine and have asked her if she could get it."
Anti-vaxxer says he now can't wait to get vaccinated after catching the virus. Photo / File
Koutsimanis said he was initially of the opinion that Covid was just another flu, and that he would come good after "sweating it out a couple of days".
"I had a couple of days of sweating that's really, really bad, and then it never went away but it got worse, and worse and worse," he said.
"It was a lot worse than I thought."
Koutsimanis said his partner was also infected and ended up in hospital, but is back home now and both of them are isolating at home.
"Obviously she got it from me, but she got it a lot worse than me," he said.
"It was just so hard watching her with the coughing and not being able to breathe."
Koutsimanis said he wouldn't wish Covid on anyone, and his advice was for people to get vaccinated to minimise the severity of the infection.
"I have a workmate who caught the virus at the same time as me, and he was back at work cleared because he had one vaccination," he said.
