Pope warns against prioritizing rich people over poor for COVID-19 vaccine

PTI, Aug 19, 2020, 4:13 PM IST

Vatican City:  Pope Francis is warning against any prospect that rich people would get priority for a coronavirus vaccine.

Francis says, “The pandemic is a crisis. You don’t come out of it the same, either better or worse.″ He added that “we must come out better.”

In remarks on Wednesday, August 19 during his weekly public audience, he said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the world can’t return to normality if normal means social injustice and degradation of the natural environment.

“How sad it would be if for the COVID-19 vaccine priority is given to the richest,” he said.

He also said that it would be scandalous if all the economic assistance in the works, most of it using public funds, ends up reviving industries that don’t help the poor or the environment.