A teen girl was vaccinated after her dad’s adverse reaction

One of Australia’s first teenagers to get the Covid jab had the procedure just days after her dad suffered an adverse reaction to the jab.

When your husband is in the ICU and you are in the car taking your teenage daughter to get the same procedure that prompted his hospitalisation what do you do?

For Sophie Westlake, a mother-of-four, who was driving her 16-year-old eldest daughter Emilie-Rose to get a Covid vaccine it was talking through the pros and cons.

Fortunately, Sophie took a lot of the decision making out of her hands.

Emilie-Rose (right) was eager to get the vaccination as soon as she could. Picture: supplied.

“We had discussed the vaccines at length and the medical advice is that the risk of Emilie-Rose getting sick from the jab was low. I was confident she wouldn’t have a similar reaction,” she said.

“Emilie-Rose is over it, she’s in her last year of school. She wants to be able to study, go to school, travel, see her friends.”

The teenager admitted she was worried about what had happened to her father but said “I can imagine seeing a loved one die of Covid would be scarier than a needle”.

She was also adamant she needed to be vaccinated on the first day.

Her father, Steve Westlake, was only vaccinated five days before his daughter.

Mr Westlake, from Bowral, has a serious auto-immune illness and decided to get vaccinated after discussions with his GP.

Sophie and Steve Westlake with their four children. Picture: supplied.

He got the jab on Wednesday evening and by Thursday he started feeling some after-effects.

“On Friday I got an uncomfortable feeling in my chest, by Saturday I was really struggling and started sweating profusely,” Mr Westlake said.

On Sunday, he had an ultrasound where the doctor found a liquid gap around his heart and diagnosed him with myocarditis.

This is one of the extremely rare side effects of taking the Pfizer vaccine.

He was taken into the Intensive Care Unit for supervision, however the scare did not deter him from urging his daughter to get the jab.

Mr Westlake will continue to be closely monitored for myocarditis but is expected to make a full recovery.

The threat of Covid was something that was always impressed on the Westlakes due to Steve’s compromised immune system.

This is one of the reasons why they created Australia’s first household surface spray able to kill Covid – Virosol – last year.

The product was the first of its kind to be listed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration as a household Covid-killing spray.

Originally published as A teen girl was vaccinated after her dad’s adverse reaction