Born before the 1918 flu pandemic, 103-year-old happily gets COVID-19 vaccine

EUGENE, OR -- A 103-year-old Oregon woman is fearlessly taking on her second pandemic.

Bernice Homan recently received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. She lived through the 1918 flu pandemic, having been born in 1917.

Homan was born in South Dakota a year before the Spanish flu infected one in every four people in the world. Homan told KEZI she had the flu then, and the doctor told her mother she didn't have long to live.

"I was born in 17 and that's when the Spanish flu was, and the doctor was at our house so I'm sure I had it," she said.

Bernice's sister lived to 102 while her brother is 99. By the time she's expected to receive the second dose, Bernice will be 104.

At 103, Bernice said exercising her mind and her body every day is paramount to staying healthy.

She's telling others about the severity of COVID-19 and the importance of getting the vaccine.

"It's a very serious disease; I'd do anything to prevent it," Bernice said. "I think we should stop it from spreading anymore than it is and do everything we can we're saving lives."