Vatican Rolls Out Vaccine

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Vatican City is administering a vaccine against the Wuhan virus.

Shots began on Wednesday, with Pope Francis receiving a first dose and scheduled to receive a second one in roughly three weeks.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be vaccinated soon, according to his personal secretary, who added the entire household of the emeritus pope will follow suit.

In an interview on Saturday, the pontiff offered his opinion on the morality of the vaccines: "I believe that, ethically, everybody must take the vaccine."

One of the biggest concerns for Catholics is the use of aborted fetal cells in some lines.

The Vatican is using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, of which The Catholic Medical Association, along with several other pro-life groups, said in a joint statement: "Although it is true that the animal-phase testing for these vaccines used abortion-derived fetal cells, commendably, it does not appear that production methods utilized such cells."

In his Urbi et Orbi blessing on Christmas, the pontiff spoke of vaccines as a light of hope: "Today, in this time of darkness and uncertainty regarding the pandemic, various lights of hope appear, such as the discovery of vaccines. But for these lights to illuminate and bring hope to all, they need to be available to all."

In that blessing, he also asked world leaders to be involved in global distribution: "I pray everybody — government leaders, businesses, international organizations — to foster cooperation and not competition and to seek a solution for everyone: vaccines for all ... ."

In the United States, prominent figures like Mike Pence, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have shown solidarity with the pontiff's wishes by televising themselves being injected.

Biden has even discussed mandating vaccines as president — something many find troubling, leaving many Catholics wondering if Francis would support forced vaccination on Americans.

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