Pope Francis on Monday condemned “baseless” ideological misinformation about vaccines against Covid-19. In addition, the pontiff supported national immunization campaigns, classifying health care as a moral obligation.
Francis’ remarks came during his annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican, a speech often labeled “State of the World” because it provides a broad overview of the global situation.
The address to diplomats in nearly 200 countries marked the pope’s closest stance so far to supporting mandatory vaccine measures, which have become controversial in Italy and other European countries.
“We already understand that in countries where an efficient vaccination campaign has taken place, the risk of serious repercussions from the disease has dropped,” the pope said.
“That’s why it’s important to continue the initiative to immunize the general population as much as possible.”
Francis, who devoted about a fifth of his six-page speech to the pandemic, warned of ideological statements regarding vaccination and criticized “misinformation” on the subject.
“Sadly, we are increasingly seeing that we live in a world of strong ideological divisions. People are often influenced by the ideology of the moment, often fueled by baseless information or poorly documented facts,” he said. “Vaccines are not a miracle cure, but they certainly represent, along with other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease.”
Reference: CNN Brasil
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