Pope Francis has condemned “baseless” ideological misinformation about Covid vaccines, while backing national immunisation campaigns [1] in his yearly address to the diplomatic corps.
“We have realised that in those places where an effective vaccination campaign has taken place, the risk of severe repercussions of the disease has decreased,” he said.
“It is therefore important to continue the effort to immunise the general population as much as possible”.
“Sadly, we are finding increasingly that we live in a world of strong ideological divides. Frequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts,” he said.
“Vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease,” he told the diplomats gathered in the Vatican’s frescoed Hall of the Benedictions.
The pontiff, who is fully vaccinated, called for a global political commitment “to pursue the good of the general population through measures of prevention and immunisation”.
He renewed his appeal for the equitable distribution of vaccines to poor nations, saying that “monopolistic rules” regarding patents should be put aside for the greater good.