COVID: Pope calls vaccine skepticism ‘strange’, says there's 'history of friendship’

Pope Francis said that he does not know how to explain the vaccine hesitancy seen in some cardinals of the Catholic Church. Many religious heads, especially in the US, have shown conscientious objection towards the COVID-19 vaccine but Pope has reckoned that the vaccines were "morally acceptable.” In addendum, he has also, multiple times, encouraged people to get jabbed for the “common good.”

On Wednesday, the 84-year-old reiterated his call for global immunization against coronavirus, disclosing that one of the cardinals was in the ICU. While he stopped short of revealing the identity of the patient, BBC reported that American Cardinal Raymond Burke recently spent days on a ventilator after contracting the lethal infection. While it is not clear if he was referring to Burke but it is worth noting that he has blatantly opposed vaccination. 

“Even in the College of Cardinals, there are some vaccine negationists. But one of them, poor thing, has been hospitalised with the virus. These are the ironies of life," the Argentinian Pope told reporters aboard his flight from Slovakia to Italy. 

Tackling vaccine hesitancy in the Vatican 

Talking about the Vatican city, he reckoned that “almost everyone” back home had been vaccinated. Furthermore, he said that they were working on methods to convince the vaccine sceptics. "As children [we were vaccinated] for measles, polio - all the children were vaccinated and no one said anything," he said, indicating that vaccines have been ubiquitous for decades. 

"It's a bit strange because humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines," Pope Francis told reporters during his flight.

Pope Francis, on Sunday, commenced his trip to Slovakia which also featured a brief stop in Hungary. The 84-year-old pontiff’s trip was particularly significant as it would mark the first time that he would travel internationally following his intestinal surgery. In July, Pope Francis underwent a three-hour-long surgery to remove 33 centimetres of his colon. The surgery for diverticular stenosis generally involves removing the left side of the colon and then joining up the remaining healthy parts of the large intestine. Speaking to reporters, he expressed his joy at the resumption of his trips following a COVID triggered break and his surgery. “Bad weeds never die,” the Pope said, quoting a dictum from his native country-Argentina. 

(With inputs from AP) 

(Image: AP/Unsplash)