Health workers in Salt Lake City on Tuesday administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to people over the age of 70 in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“We have regularly prayed for this literal religion,” President Russell M. Nelson said in a message posted on his Facebook and Instagram account after rolling up the left sleeve of his white shirt and smiling while a health worker told him gave the chance.
He and his advisers in the First Presidency also issued an official statement on Tuesday urging church members to “help suppress the pandemic by protecting themselves and others through vaccination” because “vaccinations administered by skilled medical professionals” protect health and preserve life ‘, according to a news release.
President Nelson noted that the church has supported vaccinations for generations. Its humanitarian arm, Latter-day Saint Charities, has funded more than 116 million vaccinations for various diseases around the world over the past few decades, according to the news release.
Eight of the church’s 15 senior leaders are over 70 and therefore qualify for the vaccine now under Utah guidelines. Along with President Nelson, who is 96, the following received the first dose of two-dose vaccine: Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency; President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve; and elders Jeffrey R. Holland, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Quentin L. Cook, and D. Todd Christofferson.
The other seven senior church leaders are all in their 60s and will be waiting for the vaccine along with other younger Utahns, including two 69-year-olds, elders Neil L. Andersen and Ronald A. Rasband.
Spouses of leaders also received the vaccine – sisters Wendy Nelson, Kristen Oaks, Patricia Holland, Harriet Uchtdorf, Mary Cook and Kathy Christofferson.
“With the approval of our physician, my wife, Wendy, and I were vaccinated against COVID-19 today,” President Nelson said in his social media posts. “We are very grateful. It was the first week that one of us was able to receive the vaccine. We are grateful to the countless doctors, scientists, researchers, manufacturers, government leaders and others who have done the grueling work to make this vaccine available. ”
Images shared by the church showed several leaders rolling up the sleeves of their white shirts as they sat at tables covered with syringes and bandages.
Other photographs have shown how leaders work on paperwork and wear masks – Elder Uchtdorf’s mask has the phrase “Love, share, invite.”
“I’m glad our vaccination is coming,” President Oaks said in the release. “We are very hopeful that the general vaccination of the population will help us prevent this terrible pandemic. It is hopeful, like the light at the end of the tunnel. There is relief and appreciation for those who invented the vaccine and for those who caused it to be widely available on a meaningful priority system. “
President Nelson, a retired pioneering heart surgeon, fasted worldwide and led prayer for the relief of the pandemic, noting earlier this year that “skilled scientists and researchers are working diligently to develop and distribute a vaccine against the coronavirus.”
President Nelson, who has published dozens of medical studies as a researcher, recalled in his post on social media on Tuesday that he grew up in an America under polio and the announcement of dr. Jonas Salk in 1953 that he had developed a vaccine.
“I then looked at the dramatic impact that vaccine has had on the eradication of polio, as most people around the world have been vaccinated,” President Nelson said in his post.
The church participated in the eradication of diseases through vaccinations. Latter-day Saint charities were part of partnerships that helped eradicate mother and neonatal tetanus in Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019 and eradicate wild poliovirus in Africa in 2020.
Saint Charities of the Last Days provides money to global vaccination partners “to obtain and deliver vaccinations, monitor diseases, respond to outbreaks, train health workers, and develop the elimination and eradication programming. The results include more immunized children and fewer lives lost through measles, rubella, maternal and neonatal tetanus, polio, diarrhea, pneumonia and yellow fever. ”
Here is the complete, official church statement:
‘In word and deed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has supported vaccinations for generations. As a prominent part of our humanitarian efforts, the church has funded, distributed, and administered life-saving vaccines around the world. Vaccinations have helped fight or eliminate devastating diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus, smallpox and measles. Vaccinations administered by skilled medical professionals protect health and preserve life.
‘As this pandemic spread around the world, the church immediately canceled meetings, closed temples and restricted other activities because we want to be good world citizens and do our part to fight the pandemic.
‘COVID-19 vaccines are now being developed for which many have worked, prayed and fasted and some are being provided. In accordance with the guidelines issued by local health officials, vaccinations were first given to health workers, first responders and other high priority recipients. Because of their age, senior church leaders over the age of 70 welcome the opportunity to be vaccinated.
‘As appropriate opportunities become available, the church urges its members, employees, and missionaries to be good world citizens and help suppress the pandemic by protecting themselves and others through immunization. Individuals are responsible for making their own decisions about vaccination. In determining, we recommend that they, where possible, consult a competent medical professional about their personal circumstances and needs. ”