COVID-positive CA man regrets vaccine hesitancy
CARLSBAD, Calf. -- A California man who just tested positive for COVID-19 is opening up about his vaccine regrets.
Now, his painful COVID battle has changed his mind about getting the vaccine.
RELATED: How many people in your area are hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine?
Robin Banks felt the first symptom last Friday night, KGTV reported.
"I had, like, a slight headache. I didn't really think much of it," he said.
However, over the next few days, the headache got worse.
"I felt like I had a metal clamp on my head. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't even see, hear or eat. I couldn't, like, really move my body," Banks described.
Banks said he got a fever and started having trouble breathing.
"Realizing I couldn't really take deep breaths. It felt like I had a weight on my chest," he said.
Banks was bedridden for nearly four days with those symptoms.
"It was one of the worst feelings I've had -- ever," he said.
Before he started feeling a little better Wednesday, when he went to a hospital and tested positive for coronavirus. The positive test came three weeks after Banks qualified to receive the COVID vaccine.
"I don't really know much about it. I thought maybe wait a little bit and see how it goes," he said, referring to his vaccine hesitancy. "To me, it seemed really rushed and it seemed like, you know, there could be a lot of effects that happen later on in future that we won't know about."
The 27-year-old, who runs and works out every day, also wasn't too worried about contracting the virus, although he said he has taken all the precautions in his work as a handyman.
"Me believing that being young and strong, and in great shape, I thought this wouldn't affect me this way - it's not true," he said.
While his vaccine concerns haven't gone away, he now plans to get a vaccine as soon as he's able to.
"I do regret not getting the vaccine already because I would not want to go through this. I would not want to go through what I'm going through right now," he said. "And any step we take towards ending this virus is a good step."
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