He’s 103. He got his COVID vaccine. And he wants you to get one, too.
That’s the message that Aziz Abdul Alim, who is from the remote valley of Upper Chitral of northern Pakistan, wants to tell the world. He received the second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine on April 24. And he’s happy to report he’s had no side effects so far.
“If a 100-above-year-old man like me can feel perfectly fine, everyone should have the courage to take it,” he says. “There is no reason one should not take the vaccine.”
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Alim’s enthusiasm around the vaccine is a big deal, not just because of his age, but because vaccine hesitancy is a major issue in Pakistan. A recent survey of 1,000 people in the country found that nearly over 50% don’t want to get vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, citing potential side effects.
Alim is also a COVID survivor himself. Last July, he became one of the oldest survivors of coronavirus in the world. After he got sick, he was admitted to the Aga Khan Health Service COVID-19 Emergency Response Center, Booni, for two weeks — and was discharged after testing negative.
