A Nanaimo senior who was born during the Spanish flu pandemic is about to get his first dose of vaccine during another pandemic more than 100 years later.
Victor Osborne, 102, was on the phone early Monday morning to ensure he was in line for some of the first COVID-19 immunizations available to seniors 90-plus. His appointment is scheduled for Monday, March 15, in the afternoon.
Osborne said he started calling the Island Health vaccination appointment number about two minutes before the lines opened at 7 a.m.
sa国际传媒淚 was two and a half hours on the phonesa国际传媒a国际传媒� Osborne said. sa国际传媒淚 was sure they were going to take me in that day. I finally got through. I was dialling that number. It was lousy. I finally got someone to answer.sa国际传媒�
Osborne isnsa国际传媒檛 a stranger to new vaccines. He was 16 and serving aboard the Royal Navysa国际传媒檚 HMS Hood in the mid-1930s when he saw a post asking for volunteers for trials to test the effects of poison gas, which involved exposure to skin of the trial participantsa国际传媒檚 arms, and for the trial of the influenza A vaccine. Influenza A, according to information from the Mayo Clinic, is a sub type of H1N1, the virus responsible for the Spanish flu pandemic.
sa国际传媒淚 was on board the battle cruiser Hood as a boy seaman,sa国际传媒� Osborne said. sa国际传媒淚 saw the notice up on the notice board sa国际传媒� this is about 1934 or sa国际传媒�35 sa国际传媒� and then following the notice there was another note [that read] if you went for this poison gas test on one arm and another poison gas test on the other arm, each test would get five dayssa国际传媒� leave, so naturally, I wanted to go home on leave.sa国际传媒�
So Osborne volunteered for the trials.
sa国际传媒淲ell, lo and behold, I got the bloody flu and I wound up in the naval hospital for 10 days and it was really violent,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 was looking at the pictures on the wall in the hospital and it just looked like mud.sa国际传媒�
To add insult to injury, when Osborne returned to his ship and reported to his duty officer, he was denied his leave, in spite of being in the hospital for 10 days.
sa国际传媒淗e said you were absent from place of duty. Yousa国际传媒檙e not going to get any leave,sa国际传媒� Osborne said.
Osborne transferred off HMS Hood to a New Zealand ship in 1937, about three years before it was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck during the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941.
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As for getting the shot against COVID-19, Osborne said he doesnsa国际传媒檛 have any concerns.
sa国际传媒淚 feel OK,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚n the navy we get lots of shots. Yellow fever, you name it, but we didnsa国际传媒檛 have any choice and we had to take medication against malaria when I was out in Burma. You didnsa国际传媒檛 have any choice. They just did you whenever they wanted to.sa国际传媒�
Once again, Osborne found out he wonsa国际传媒檛 have a choice about which vaccine hesa国际传媒檒l be inoculated with.
sa国际传媒淚 told them when I was speaking to them yesterday, sa国际传媒楧o you mind giving me that one shot? Isa国际传媒檝e been waiting this long and Isa国际传媒檇 like to live a bit longer,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淸They said], sa国际传媒楴o, yousa国际传媒檒l have to take whatever they give you.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�
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