The Vatican on Tuesday called
for the fair distribution of COVID vaccines.
Vaccines were developed as a public good and must be provided to
all in a fair and equitable manner, giving priority to those who
need them most, it said, according to Vatican News.
The Vatican's Covid-19 Commission and the Pontifical Academy for
Life have highlighted this need in a joint document that
discusses the essential role of the anti-covid vaccine to defeat
the pandemic.
Referring to the Pope's recent Christmas Message, world leaders
are exhorted to reject the temptation to promote "various forms
of nationalism" regarding the vaccine, and to cooperate in its
distribution. As he said on 25 December, "for these lights to
illuminate and bring hope to all, they need to be available to
all."
Justice, solidarity and inclusion are the main criteria to be
followed in order to meet the challenges posed by this worldwide
emergency.
The Note describes the criteria set out by Pope Francis in his
General Audience on 19 August for positively evaluating
companies that deserve our support: that they "contribute to the
inclusion of the excluded, to the promotion of the least, to the
common good and the care of creation".
The indispensable guide, therefore, is the "broad horizon that
evokes the principles of the Church's Social Doctrine, such as
human dignity and the preferential option for the poor,
solidarity and subsidiarity, the common good and the care of the
common home, and justice and the universal destination of
goods."
It is not only the final moment of vaccine administration that
needs to be considered. Its entire "life cycle" must be taken
into account.
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