Reports: Pope Francis receives coronavirus vaccine

Pope Francis, 84, was given the coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, according to media reports. 

The news was reported by America, a US-based Jesuit news website, and by local newspaper La Nación, and written by journalists known to be personal friends of the pope.

The Vatican did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but the Argentine pontiff had already said he would be getting inoculated this week. As a young man in Buenos Aires, Francis had one lung removed as a result of an illness, making him potentially vulnerable to the disease.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni only said that the Vatican's vaccination campaign had begun. It was expected to start this week. 

On Sunday, the pope urged people to get the Covid-19 vaccine, in an interview with Italian TV Canale 5.

"There is a suicidal denial which I cannot explain, but today we have to get vaccinated," the pontiff said.

It is not yet known what vaccine the pontiff received, but it is believed to have been the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

– TIMES/AFP