Having already contracted COVID-19 once, Gerardo Tadeo figured he was low-risk for getting the virus again, especially a serious case of it.
“The first time he got it, it was like, it went fast,” said Analy Nava, Tadeo’s sister. “Like he got better really quick.”
While he was not against the vaccine, the family says Tadeo decided to put it off for some time, too much time.
“He was gonna go get vaccinated but then it got him,” said Nava. “He got it again and it was really bad.”
Tadeo died from the coronavirus on Aug. 28, just five days after being admitted into the hospital, said Nava. He was just 33 years old.
“COVID, this thing, it’s like serious,” said Nava. “If you don’t take care of yourself it’s gonna, it’s going to get to you. It ate up all his organs, he couldn’t breathe anymore. It’s bad. If you can get vaccinated, go ahead and do it.”
The death rate from COVID-19 in San Diego is rising steadily for the first time in months. The number of deaths reported last week were nearly twice what they were just one week prior.
“We did not believe that it could affect our family and here we are today and it’s completely devastated,” said Christina Lowe, former San Diego resident.
Lowe’s husband, Michael, also died of the coronavirus in recent days. He was also not vaccinated.
“My husband and I, we honestly thought that COVID was mostly political,” said Lowe. “That the mask mandates the vastly seen mandates were all political.”
This summer’s coronavirus resurgence has been labeled a pandemic of the unvaccinated. In San Diego, 90 percent of COVID-19 deaths are among people without the vaccine.
“Go get vaccinated,” said Nava. “It’s gonna help you out no matter what, it’s gonna help out. “It’s no joke.”
As the battle against the virus continues, these families cling to the hope their stories will be heard, so other families won’t have to learn the painfully deadly lesson they have.
The Tadeo family has set up a gofundme to help with funeral expenses.