104-year-old man born before Spanish Flu outbreak gets first dose of COVID vaccine in Delhi

NEW DELHI: A man born a few months before the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1918 received his first shot of COVID-19 vaccine at a private facility here, hospital authorities said on Saturday.

Tulsi Das Chawla, 104, was given a dose of Covieshield at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on Friday and has not exhibited any adverse effects, they said.

Born on November 1917, the Patel Nagar resident, retired from the Indian Foreign Service in 1975, a hospital spokesperson said.

Wearing a full-sleeved V-neck red shirt, the centenarian flashed a V-sign and obliged some of the photographers.

“I urge everyone, who is eligible, to come forward and take the COVID vaccine. It is totally safe,” Chawla was quoted as saying in the statement issued by the hospital.

Even at this age, he leads an “active life and does not suffer from any major comorbidities,” the hospital claimed.

“He was successfully vaccinated, and without any adverse effects later,” the statement said.

Chawla was born on November 1, 1917, when the World War I was nearing its end. A few months later in 1918, the Spanish Flu pandemic hit the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged the world in 2019-2020, was the worst pandemic since the Spanish Flu.(PTI)