Nuns stand in front of the Nativity scene prior to the start of Pope Francis' Urbi et Orbi message (Latin for 'to the city and to the world' ) on Christmas' day in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Dec. 25, 2020. (AP/Gregorio Borgia)

Coronavirus: Vatican to begin COVID-19 vaccinations second half of January

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AFP

Published: 02 January ,2021: 03:52 PM GST Updated: 02 January ,2021: 08:45 PM GST

The Vatican announced Saturday its COVID-19 vaccination campaign will begin “in the next few days” with health workers and the elderly to receive vaccines from the second half of January.

No mention was made in the short press release about Pope Francis and when the 84-year-old pontiff will receive a vaccine.

“It is foreseeable that the vaccines could arrive in the State in the second week of January, in a sufficient quantity to cover the needs of the Holy See and the Vatican City State,” it said.

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The Vatican has purchased a low temperature refrigerator for storing the vaccine, with inoculations to start in the second half of January, it said.

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Priority would be given to “health and public safety personnel, the elderly and personnel most frequently in contact with the public.”

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