Hi Backlit
I hear what the article is saying, we had the same thoughts when we started to experience problems at our nursing home, however it’s not happening board with the residents. We have 100+residents and we first encountered covid in the home back in November, I think we had five resident cases, and two carers. This trend kind of continued. A high percentage of the residents and carers were vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine , carers first back in December. No long term problems and to date all carers who tested positive with covid, and had symptoms, have made full recoveries. Then the residents were vaccinated in January, not all but most. We have three floors, average 30-32 on each floor. The demencia floor got an outbreak a few weeks after the vaccination, but a carer had tested positive. By the very nature of demencia the residents could not be forced to isolate -they simply don’t understand the rule to stay in your room. To date ten carers on that floor and 24 residents got covid. All carers recovered, 8 residents have died so far, some have recovered, some are still unwell. On another floor four residents tested positive, once again after a carer became unwell. Two are in hospital, two are recovering. On the residential floor, one resident has covid, but is not too bad at the moment.
Although you could argue that the Pfizer vaccine could be a factor, it may not be a factor at all. In the U.K. we have the new strain, also it is quite normal for a second wave of a virus to be worse than the first. Many of the younger people who have lost their lives have not been vaccinated. Gibraltar could have encountered the new strain.
All I am saying is that it could be coincidence. Trust me it crossed my mind when everything happened so fast at the home, a few weeks ago. However it doesn’t match up across the board, some of the carers had not been vaccinated, but had the same symptoms as the residents, same with the residents.
The problem is that you don’t know if they would have died if they had not had the vaccine and got covid.
There is no proof either way, just speculation.
Rita