Vaccine joy for 92-year-old former doctor Bart
AS Covid vaccines were prepared at Sunnyside Medical Centre, the first person with their sleeve up ready to get the jab was the man who started it all there. 92 year-old former doctor Bart Curtis was in flying form as his son David administered the vaccine, one he had been looking forward to getting for some time.
‘I’m delighted to finally be done,’ he said. ‘Being 92, I was in the first group for it and living next door, I didn’t have far to come! I was looking forward to getting it and I thought the sooner the better. As we know, the coronavirus has a terrible effect on older people and it can kill. Those that it doesn’t kill, it can completely wreck their lungs.’
While delighted to be vaccinated, Bart says that older people should continue to take all precautions in terms of Covid-19.
‘Really vaccines are like a firewall in a forest,’ he said. ‘You need around 70-80% of the population to be vaccinated and be resistant to it. It takes a couple of weeks for the immunity to build up anyway, but naturally enough you still need to be careful after you’ve had it too.’
Only retiring himself at the age of 80, perhaps Dr Bart hung up his stethoscope at the right time as he now watches on as the practice deals with a pandemic.
‘They’ve got a great system in place,’ he noted. ‘I worked ‘til I was 80 myself and after that I felt that the weekends just weren’t long enough so it was time to call it a day! They have a great setup here with five doctors, two nurses and four secretaries though, so everything is running smoothly.’
I was in and out very quickly, it was almost an anti-climax in the end,’ he laughs. ‘There was a great atmosphere though and everyone was in great form. It was lovely to see and I’ll look forward to returning for my second jab in four weeks.’