Pope Francis gets COVID-19 vaccine

Both Pope Francis and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict, have received the coronavirus vaccine, Reuters reported Thursday, citing the Vatican.

Francis, 84, and Benedict, 93, are both in the age group eligible for the first round of vaccinations, which began in the Vatican on Wednesday. In addition to his age, Francis is also immunocompromised after having a lung removed in his youth in Argentina.

While Vatican City has reported fewer than 30 cases of the virus, Italy was the first European hot spot in the pandemic and has seen a total of 2.3 million cases and 80,326 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Francis has called for everyone eligible to be vaccinated.

“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,” he told Italian TV over the weekend.

In his first Sunday prayer of 2021, Francis earlier this month condemned vacationing abroad during the pandemic amid reports of heavy travel over the winter holidays.

“They are good people, but they didn’t think about those who were staying at home, of the economic problems of many people who have been hit hard by the lockdown, of the sick people,” Francis said.

“What each of us — and all of us together — can do is commit ourselves a little more to take care of each other and of what was created, our common home,” he added.