VATICAN CITY – Both Pope Francis and former Pope Benedict have received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine, the Vatican said on Thursday.
The 84-year-old pope and the 93-year-old former pope took their blows as part of a Vatican vaccination program that began on Wednesday.
Both men are vulnerable to contracting the virus because of their age.
Francis is probably more at risk because part of his lungs were removed due to an illness when he was young in his native Argentina.
Benedict is frail and suffers from a number of age-related conditions, such as arthritis.
There have been fewer than 30 cases of coronavirus in the Vatican, most of them among the Swiss Guard, who live in a communal barracks.
Pope Francis said over the weekend that everyone should receive a jab. “It’s an ethical choice, because you play with your health, with your life, but you also play with the lives of others,” he told Italian television channel Canale 5.