Covid-19 Omicron outbreak: Staunch anti-vaxxer did not want jab. Catching Covid-19 changed his mind

February 8 2022 A million people due to get booster shots will begin receiving text message or email alerts from today, as PM Jacinda Ardern promised $400,000 to rural communities in her post-Cabinet press conference.

A staunch anti-vaxxer from Queensland who said vaccine mandates were a form of "segregation" has quickly changed his tune.

What changed Damien Campbell's mind? He caught Covid-19.

Speaking to the ABC about his views before and after being infected, Campbell said he was hit hard by the virus on Christmas Eve.

What started as a few sniffles turned into much more serious symptoms — he could not taste or smell like before and he even lost his love for playing music, albeit briefly.

"I thought, 'Is this ever going to end? It's never going to get any better,'" he told the ABC.

He struggled to kick the virus for more than a week and a half when an ambulance rushed him to hospital with severe dehydration.

"After going through Covid, I realised I couldn't go through anything worse again in my life," Campbell said.

"That was the worst sickness I've ever been through. I went and got vaccinated pretty much like a week after recovering."

Queensland drummer Damien Campbell was vaccine hesitant, until he caught Covid. Photo / Supplied

His story is a familiar one for Sydney woman Amanda Gulasi.

Gulasi was a proud anti-vaxxer who didn't believe in the Covid-19 pandemic – until she caught the virus herself and wound up struggling to breathe in hospital.

Now she has completely changed her stance, and begged Australians to take the virus seriously and get vaccinated during an emotional interview with A Current Affair.

Appearing on the program on Monday night, the mother of three, who is now recovering in her southwest Sydney home, said she regretted her previous stance.

"Vaccinate people, vaccinate. No, seriously, it's not fun," she said.

"At the start of Covid, I was completely on the side of the conspiracy theorists.

"Now I definitely believe it, and it will kill you. It is true, it is real."

Gulasi told reporters that as a disability support worker, she had access to the vaccine from the first days of the roll out, but had refused as she thought Covid was "just another flu".

"Like, we get flu all the time … But this is nothing like the flu. It's not like any flu, as days go by, instead of getting better you seem to get worse," she said.

"The symptoms (have) a mind of its own, it's like it has a life of its own. It's so hard to explain it until you've experienced it."

Queensland drummer Damien Campbell was rushed to hospital after struggling for 10 days to kick the virus. Photo / Supplied

She explained that she was hesitant to take the vaccine due to how fast they were produced and because of the so-called "scare tactics" used to try and encourage vaccinations.

But she said she now regretted that belief.

"It's just not worth for a few side effects," she said.

The 42-year-old, who said she was normally fit and healthy, said she was now concerned for older or less healthy people who caught the virus.

"I would hate to be somebody who is elderly and be feeling the way I feel, or somebody who is at risk," she said.

"Like, I am very healthy, and this virus has knocked me to the ground."

She urged the public not to fall for vaccine misinformation.

"Don't believe what you're seeing on social media," she said.

"Pray it doesn't happen to you, pray it doesn't happen to be a possible death sentence."