Fully Vaccinated Man Dies Of COVID-19 Just Days Before Scheduled Booster Shot

KEY POINTS

Robert Kearle was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Oct. 10
He was placed on a ventilator on Oct. 15
Kearle had previously served four years in the U.K. Navy

A 59-year-old man who was scheduled to receive a booster shot in early November died of COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated against the virus.

Robert Kearle, 59, of Llanbradach, Wales, died on Oct. 29 after battling COVID-19 for a week. Kearle, who had already received two jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine, had only been days away from getting a booster dose, Wales Online reported.

Kearle was diagnosed with COVID-19 after he collapsed at home on the night of Oct. 10. Doctors at the Grange University Hospital sent him home the next day, but readmitted him on Oct. 15 after his condition worsened. He was placed on a ventilator which he never came off prior to his death on Oct. 29.

"The next day, I was crying and asking if they would let me down to see him, because his lungs weren't working. The doctor said I couldn't come, but then I had a call back from a nurse saying 'come down now’ because he'd taken a turn for the worse,” Trisha, Robert’s wife, told Wales Online.

"When I got there, they had to knock the ventilator and other machines off. I sat with him until he went. He was tough. When they turned off the ventilator it was a good 20 minutes before he went.”

Kearle, who enjoyed fishing and watching rugby, had survived myotonic dystrophy 15 years earlier. The condition is characterized by progressive wasting and the weakening of muscles. Four years ago, he was also diagnosed with bladder cancer, but he recovered after undergoing chemotherapy.

Kearle also served four years in the Navy and served as a radar operator on the HMS Plymouth. The ship was hit by four bombs in June 1982, which Robert survived.

Kearle’s funeral would be held at the Thornhill crematorium on Nov. 24 at 12.30 p.m. His wake will be held at the Old Comrades Club in Llanbradach. Kearle is survived by Trisha, 66, and his three grandchildren.

The United Kingdom is currently seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant. On Tuesday, health officials reported 40,665 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 47 new deaths. The country is also currently averaging 38,068 new cases daily, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The country has so far reported 9,686,190 COVID-19 cases and 143,598 deaths, as per the data.