Pope Francis said on Saturday he would get a COVID-19 vaccination and declared that it was everyone’s moral obligation to get one.
“I believe everyone should be vaccinated ethically,” the pope told Italian Channel 5 TV station. “It’s an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but also with the lives of others.”
The Vatican begins its vaccination program next week and Francis has already booked an appointment, reports the Washington Post, citing the television interview.
At 84 and a missing part of a lung, the pope is considered a high risk. He followed social distancing guidelines, but appeared in front of crowds without a face mask.
In the interview, which aired Sunday, Francis spoke positively about the vaccine – something he has been doing for months.
“I do not know why some would say, ‘No, the vaccine is dangerous,'” he said. There is a suicide denial that I would not know how to explain, but today you have to take the vaccine. ‘