As she receives first COVID-19 vaccine, 105-year-old recalls the fear of polio
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A survivor of previous worldwide health crises recently took a step to survive the COVID-19 pandemic: Carol Robertson received her first vaccination on Thursday.
The 105-year-old lives alone in a condo in St. Paul, and up until two years ago, she was walking up to 5 miles a day. Before the pandemic, she had a busy social life with family and friends.
The coronavirus put a damper on all that.
“It’s been dull, you know, I can't even get out for a walk. But I have family and friends. You know, it's been bearable. I haven't gotten into depression or anything like that,” she said.
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Born in 1915, Robertson lived through the flu epidemic of 1918, the Great Depression and World War II. Her husband served overseas while she cared for their newborn boy. In the early 1950s, she says she worried about her family as polio threatened the health of children, in particular.
“It was a dreadful disease. We had no idea what to do about it. And as parents with little kids, it was scary, scary,” she recalled.
During this pandemic, Robertson uses regular hour-long Zoom sessions with her son and connects with grandchildren on FaceTime.
Robertson got her first vaccine dose at a HealthPartners clinic in Woodbury, Minn.
She said after her second shot, she’s looking forward to a few things.
“The first thing — I want my son to come,” she said. “He's had his shots. And I want to see him once before I die. We had this one child.”
She hopes that everyone will do their part to reduce the threat of COVID-19.
”I do want to say how grateful I am really to have this shot. And I can't imagine why everybody doesn't want to.”