Unvaccinated Mother of Three Who Kept Putting Off Vaccine Dies of COVID

The father of a woman who died of COVID has said he has "no doubt" she would still be alive if she had received the vaccine. Stephen Baird, whose 27-year-old daughter Rashelle died a week ago in Scotland, has urged others to get the jab.

Baird said the mother of three was not anti-vaccine, but had simply put off the appointment because she was so busy with her young children.

"It was just more to do with, every time she got an appointment in, she had something to do with the kids," Baird told the BBC. "So, she put it off and put it off. She wanted to get her vaccine but she put her kids first."

In an interview with Sky News, Baird added that he believes his daughter would have made time for the COVID vaccine if people were fined for being unvaccinated.

Baird added: "I'm angry she didn't get her injections. I'm angry because I've lost her. The doctor said to me, 'If she'd had the injections, she'd still be here.' It's tragic."

When Rashelle Baird began having breathing difficulties, she initially thought she had a cold.

"She went to her GP, who thought it was asthma. She was sent to hospital and tests revealed she had COVID lung disease. They treated her and sent her home. Within 24 hours she was back in hospital again," her father told The Scottish Sun.

"After two days she was sent home again. She was taken back to hospital and her breathing got really bad."

The 27-year-old was placed in a medically induced coma to assist her breathing on November 3.

She died 16 days later at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. Her cause of death was recorded as multiple organ failure, according to her father.

"Doctors told Rashelle she would need to be put in an induced coma to help her breathing and that it would only last a couple of days, but she didn't recover and they couldn't bring her back round," he added.

Her children are aged 2, 6 and 8 and last spoke to their mother before she was placed in the coma. Rashelle's uncle also died with the virus in 2020.

Her father told Sky News: "Fines, I think, is the way to go because people don't want to pay a fine. They don't want to be hit with a £1,000 fine. How are they going to pay that? Well, you should have been vaccinated."

Baird added: "In hindsight, I would go back and kick her backside and say, 'You've got three wee kids.' It's absolutely crazy not getting vaccinated."