Real Stories

1st vax - metallic after taste within 10 minutes of having vax which lasted 24 hours and usual sore arm that most people have experienced.

2nd vax - within 6 hours had flu like symptoms, intense headache, sore arm and scaly patch at injection site, felt like I was burning up inside but wasn't running a high temperature, heart palpitations and fatigue.

This lasted for 5 weeks until symptoms resolved, however fatigue and palpitations continue, required time of work.

My GP informed that my immune system had a reaction to the vax and possibility of undiagnosed Myocarditis.

3rd vax - (had under duress) intense heart palpitations and chest pain within one hour of receiving vax, ECG monitoring for a couple of hours in ED at Wairau Hospital 5 hours after receiving vax.

Ongoing intense heart palpitations and irregular heart beats. Waiting for cardiology review, but feel unsupported.

Has now been a year of extreme fatigue and palpitations, feel my health has been altered due to the vax but not taken seriously.

My GP has been a great support, but pressure from my workplace to be vaccinated was brutal and unpleasant, I work as a nurse for a DHB.

I am a Dental Surgeon. I avoided the Pfizer vaccine as long as possible. I eventually had both doses to continue working, I could not return to work as I soon afterwards became incapacitated with severe dilated cardiomyopathy (heart failure).

My story:

I am a 48 year old Dental Surgeon with a cherished wife and four young children. Up until mid-November last year I provided a critical service in the community and was a healthy man. Due to the vaccine mandate the worst has happened and I have now been diagnosed with severe heart failure.

I am registered to practice in Australia and New Zealand and returned to New Zealand in January 2021. I have also been a full time academic for 5 years in a different field. I have published internationally and have ranking through the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF). As such, since early 2020 I have followed the actual data and scientific literature very closely. I have a sound understanding of the microbiology, physiology and epidemiology of mRNA, Viral vector and other COVID-19 vaccines. I was hesitant to take Pfizer's vaccine.

I worked in an exceptionally difficult to staff, remote rural community with significant deprivation particularly among Maori and Pacific Peoples. I worked up until the vaccine mandate became effective. Though I felt coerced to take the vaccine, I had little choice being the only bread winner for my family of six. Late November 2021 I had the 1st dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The next day I began experiencing symptoms. Two days later I submitted an Adverse Event Following Immunisation Reports for COVID-19 vaccine to Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM). In mid-December I went on to have the 2nd dose and again reported to CARM a few days after because the symptoms worsened. On neither vaccination visit was an informed consent process undertaken.

Since then after a few hospital stays and myriad tests I've been diagnosed with Severe Dilated Cardiomyopathy, with 23% Ejection Fraction, globally severely impaired left ventricle function, intraventricular dyssynchrony and a Left Bundle Branch Break. To the degree of Class 4 impaired on the New York Heart Association classification (that's the most severe).

In plain English I have severe heart failure. My heart pumps just a third of the required blood, which means I have very little oxygen getting around my body. I'm barely functional and spend a large portion of my days in bed. I'll be on at least four heart failure medications for life. ACC and Income Protection Insurance for vaccine-caused injury have so far not agreed to pay out. The Cardiologist reports we'll know after 6 months of treatment whether there's any improvement and whether I'll ever work again.I

I shared my story with a forum of over 17,500 Dental professionals in New Zealand and Australia. I was humbled by the hundreds of professional colleagues who expressed dismay, sympathy and support. More surprising was the number of emotional, private messages I received describing their own diverse trauma caused by vaccine mandates - being coerced to take the vaccine, or too afraid to speak publicly about their experience or hesitancy due to the militant bullying, being forced out of the profession they love, or seeing no option but to sell their business, or indeed a number who like me, have had their health taken from them.

Regards,

Dr Steven Smith BDS MDes NatDipGD
Dental Surgeon
Registered to practice in New Zealand and Australia