AG urges residents to get jabbed after he and other family members fall victim to Covid

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Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin
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Attorney General (AG) and Labour Minister Steadroy Benjamin is among more than 200 people in Antigua and Barbuda who are currently infected with the SARS-CoV-2.

He told Observer that the infection took place during a Christmas dinner where he hosted 10 family members.

“One of my kids [was] coughing; we thought it was just a cough but the next morning, we got a complaint of pain and we got a test done,” Benjamin recalled.

The AG said he initially tested negative for the virus while everyone else’s Covid test revealed that they had contracted it. A follow-up test however revealed that he was in fact infected along with the rest of his family members.

“It is so very easy to be infected,” he remarked, recalling that he had no symptoms of the virus before being tested.

“Just a little cough, but that’s about it,” he said.

The Labour and Public Safety Minister is now issuing a stark reminder to residents of just how easy it is to contract the highly contagious Covid-19.

Benjamin – who has suffered from health problems in the past – said the fact that he is entirely asymptomatic should serve as a warning of Covid’s prevalence in the community.

“Please go and get vaccinated. Once you’re vaccinated, you’re well protected.”

“What we thought was a simple cough, turned out in fact be the Covid and had we been unvaccinated, we would have had more serious problems,” he stressed. 

According to Benjamin, all those infected are currently in quarantine. One relative was briefly hospitalised as a precaution due to diabetes, but has since been discharged.

The AG – who is fully vaccinated and has also received a booster shot – took the opportunity to urge people to follow suit and become vaccinated against the virus that has already claimed millions of lives around the world.

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