Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wants to be Vaccinated Against COVID-19 along with the Entire "Mater ecclesiae" Monastery where he Lives

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will also be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the Prefect of the Papal Household, announced, that Benedict XVI will also do like his successor. As soon as the ordered Covid vaccine is available in the Vatican State, the former Pope Benedict XVI, now aged 93, also wants to be vaccinated. Benedict's private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, told the Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA) on Monday evening that the entire household in the Vatican monastery "Mater ecclesiae" wants to be immunized with the emeritus. Pope Francis had said in a television interview broadcast on Sunday evening that he would be vaccinated against the coronavirus "next week" . "I've signed up, it has to be done," said the leader of the church. 

Last week, the head of the Vatican Health Department, Andrea Arcangeli, announced that the vaccine doses would be delivered within a few days. Arcangeli confirmed that the Vatican State had ordered around 10,000 doses of the vaccine from the Mainz-based manufacturer Biontech and its US partner Pfizer . These were sufficient for internal needs. In addition to employees of the Holy See and the Vatican City, relatives and pensioners who are also insured are eligible for the vaccination. The workers had to explain before Christmas whether they wanted a vaccination or not.