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| Pope Francis and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. (File photo by=Vatican Media and Victoria Jones/Pool via Reuters) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Pope Francis and Britain's Queen Elizabeth on Saturday (Jan 9) became the latest high-profile figures to join the global vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, as the United Kingdom reported it had surpassed more than 3 million cases since the pandemic began more than a year ago.
Pope Francis urged people to get the vaccination, calling opposition to the jab "suicidal denial" and saying he would get inoculated against the virus himself next week when the Vatican would begin its campaign." There is a suicidal denial which I cannot explain, but today we have to get vaccinated," the pontiff said in segments from an interview with Canale 5 due to be broadcast in full on Sunday. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip received their COVID-19 vaccinations on Saturday, Buckingham Palace said, in a rare public comment on the private health matters of the long-serving monarch. A source told the domestic Press Association news agency that the queen, 94, and Philip, 99, were given the injections by a royal household doctor at Windsor Castle.
Countries across the globe are following suit, starting up massive vaccination campaigns with several coronavirus shots approved so far, including those by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna and domestically made jabs from Russia and China.
