Pope Francis: Poor people should be first to get vaccine against COVID-19

Pope Francis is pictured on August 15, as he delivers his blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Andrew Medichini/AP

Just yesterday, September 25, Pope Francis, in his talk at United Nations, said that the poor and weakest members of society should get preferential treatment when a vaccine for the coronavirus is ready.

Speaking from the Vatican in a video address to the U.N. General Assembly, Pope Francis said the worldwide pandemic had highlighted the urgent need to promote public health and ensure access to vaccines.

“If anyone should be given preference, let it be the poorest, the most vulnerable, those who so often experience discrimination because they have neither power nor economic resources,” he said.

Pope Francis has said rich countries should not hoard a coronavirus vaccine and the World Health Organization has warned against “vaccine nationalism”, urging countries to join a global pact to share vaccine hopefuls with developing countries.

Pope Francis gestures ahead of a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the Vatican, September 25, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

More than 150 vaccines are in development, about two dozen are in human studies and a handful are in late-stage trials.

In other parts of his address, he repeated calls for rich countries to reduce or forgive debts that are burdening poor countries.

He called for changes in economic and financial institutions so they can better “respond to the rapidly growing inequality between the super-rich and the permanently poor.”

SOURCE: Reuters