Pope Francis, his predecessor Benedict get COVID-19 vaccine amid rising infections

Pope Francis, his predecessor Benedict get COVID-19 vaccine amid rising infections

- In a bid to protect themselves, Pope Francis and his predecessor, Benedict, have taken a jab of COVID-19 vaccine

- The two religious leaders were vaccinated on Wednesday, January 13

- Over 92 million people across the world have contracted COVID-19 out of which close to two million have died

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Pope Francis and his predecessor, ex-Pope Benedict, have received the first dose of a vaccine against coronavirus.

Reuters reports that the Vatican disclosed this on Thursday, January 14.

Legit.ng gathers that the 84-year-old pope and the former pope, 93, got their jabs as part of a Vatican vaccination program that began on Wednesday, January 13.

COVID-19: Pope Francis, his predecessor Benedict get vaccine amid rising infections
Pope Francis and Ex-Pope Benedict XVI exchange Christmas greetings. Photo credit: Maurix/Gamma-Rapho
Source: Getty Images

Though there have been fewer than 30 cases of coronavirus in the Vatican City, Pope Francis said everyone should get a jab.

He said:

“It is an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others."

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According to the data from Johns Hopkins University, 92,452,684 people across the world have contracted COVID-19 while 1,980,885 have died from the virus, at the time of filing this report.

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In a related report, Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria's former vice president, has also taken an important step by receiving a jab of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Popular Nigerian journalist, Dele Momodu, shared the pictures showing the former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as he received the jab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Atiku’s spokesman, Paul Ibe, also confirmed the development, adding the PDP chieftain took the vaccine on Wednesday, January 6, as part of a mass vaccination programme.

Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari will receive a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on live TV to help drive awareness on the vaccine administration among Nigerians.

Read also

COVID-19: President Buhari lists prominent Nigerians that will take vaccine on live TV

According to the federal government, Buhari along with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, and other key personnel will be among the first set to receive the vaccine.

COVID-19: Is Nigeria ready for another lockdown | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Nurudeen Lawal avatar

Nurudeen Lawal (Head of Politics and Current Affairs Desk) Nurudeen Lawal is an AFP-certified journalist with a wealth of experience spanning over 8 years. He received his B/Arts degree in Literature-in-English from OAU. Lawal is the Head of the Politics/CA Desk at Legit.ng, where he applies his expertise to provide incisive coverage of events. He was named the Political Desk Head of the Year (Nigeria Media Nite-Out Award 2023). He is also a certified fact-checker (Dubawa fellowship, 2020). Contact him at lawal.nurudeen@corp.legit.ng or +2347057737768.