A Bermudian nurse on the frontline of the pandemic in Washington DC has urged the public to be wary of misinformation about vaccines.

Davon Adams, who works in a level-one trauma centre, said he recently received the first of two scheduled doses of the Pfizer vaccine - the same vaccine expected to arrive in Bermuda next week.

He said: “I did my own research, as I would encourage others do to. There is so much reliable information from credible sources regarding the vaccine.

“I determined that the benefits outweigh the risks for me. I took a lot of things into consideration, like the fact that I am interacting with Covid positive patients constantly.

“In my line of work I may be exposed unknowingly and the last thing I want to do is be an asymptomatic carrier and possibly pass it on to my family, friends or patients.”

Mr Adams, who spoke to The Royal Gazette earlier this year about being on the frontlines of the first surge of Covid-19 cases, said he was initially apprehensive about the vaccine and had many questions, including how it was developed so quickly and what side effects it might have.

He said: “After doing research and reading, I was more comfortable with my decision.

“What some may find hard to believe is that researchers were not starting from scratch when developing the vaccine.”

Mr Adams added that SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes Covid-19 - is a member of the coronavirus family that has been studied for more than 50 years.

He said: “We already knew the structure, genome and life cycle of the virus. Therefore the building blocks were already in place.”

Mr Adams said that he has had “little to no side effects” apart from a little soreness in his arm.

He added: “With the majority of my coworkers receiving the shot, I have not heard of any significant side effects.

“The worst I’ve heard of were headaches and a low grade fever which usually subsided in one day.”

Mr Adams said that his hospital has seen an obvious increase in Covid cases in the past month.

He added that in the early stages of the pandemic, the Covid ICU was filled with patients who came forward with respiratory problems, but now patients who attend the hospital for unrelated issues are found to be positive.

Mr Adams said: “There may be a patient who got in a car accident and upon routine screening for Covid they end up testing positive.

“We have seen that a number of times.”

He said his hospital had proactively obtained protective gear and that he and his colleagues had leant on each other to manage the pressures of the pandemic.

Mr Adams said: “It’s hard to talk about Covid and the things we see on a daily basis to people with little or no medical knowledge because it doesn’t make sense to them.

“We talk to each other about rough experiences we’ve recently had, and it’s comforting in the fact they can empathise.

“Although there is nothing funny about Covid we try and make each other laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood on an already depressing unit.”

He said that as a healthcare worker, he is frustrated by the misinformation in the public about the pandemic and urged people to take recommended precautions.

Mr Adams said: “I can’t tell you how many messages have been forwarded to me from family and friends containing false information and videos about Covid - more so now about the Covid vaccine.

“A lot of this information is completely inaccurate and false and people are believing it. This can be dangerous.”

He added that the best advice he could give to the public to curb the spread of the virus was to wear a mask.

Mr Adams also urged the public to talk to their healthcare providers about the vaccine, and if it is appropriate for them.