Pope Francis and his predecessor, former pope Benedict XVI have received the coronavirus vaccine as confirmed by the Vatican.
Spokesperson of the Vatican, Matteo Bruni said the spiritual leaders received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine “as part of the Vatican City State vaccination programme“.
He said;
I can confirm that, as part of the Vatican City State vaccination programme to date, the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to Pope Francis and the Pope Emeritus.
It had already been reported that Pope Francis had received the jab on Wednesday January 13, the first day of the Vatican’s vaccination drive, but officials declined to confirm the news.
Vatican News portal said 93-year-old Benedict was given a dose on Thursday morning.
The former pontiff, who stepped down in 2013 and now lives in a converted monastery in the Vatican gardens, is increasingly frail.
In an interview broadcast at the weekend, Francis urged people to get the vaccine, adding;
There is a suicidal denial which I cannot explain, but today we have to get vaccinated.
The Vatican in December said it was “morally acceptable” for Catholics even where the vaccines had been developed using cell lines from aborted foetuses.
In his Christmas message last year, Francis also added his voice to calls for vaccines to be available across the globe, not just in rich countries.
He urged “vaccines for all, especially the most vulnerable and most in need in all regions of the planet”.
