HYDERABAD: A 103-year-old resident of Hyderabad who has experienced not only the current pandemic but also one in the early 20th century has taken the Covid-19 vaccine. The centenarian, KR Sastry, was administered the vaccine as part of a special at-home vaccination camp by a private hospital in the city.
“Korada Ramachandra Sastry got inoculated with the first dose of Covishield vaccine on Saturday, administered by personnel from SLG Hospitals. This makes him among the oldest in Hyderabad to take the jab,” said a representative from the hospital. Sastry has witnessed both the Spanish flu and Covid-19 pandemics, a 100 years apart. “He is a retired school teacher from Chennai. He was born on June 15, 1918, when India suffered due to a similar pandemic called Spanish flu,” stated the hospital.
Sastry’s son KV Sharma said that owing to factors like his father’s age and the effort involved to take the latter to the hospital, they had put off the vaccination for long. “It was an important decision for the family to take, considering my father’s age. And once we took the decision, we are happy that the hospital staff inoculated my father at our residence instead of us having to shift him out of his comfort zone,” Sharma said.