 Love
thy neighbour and get a COVID jab, says Archbishop of Canterbury
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[January 19, 2021]
LONDON (Reuters) - The Archbishop of
Canterbury, Justin Welby, received a COVID-19 vaccine and urged people
across the world to accept the jab, saying that getting vaccinated was
part of the Christian commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves.
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 The leader of the Anglican Communion, which includes 85 million
people in about 165 countries, tweeted a picture of himself
receiving the shot and described the rapid development of vaccines
against the new coronavirus as an answer to prayer.
"Jesus Christ calls us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Getting
the vaccine is part of that commandment: we can show our love for
each other by keeping each other safe from this terrible disease,"
he said in a statement.
"To everyone in this country and across the world, I want to say
please, please accept the invitation to get the jab when it comes --
and encourage everyone around you to do the same."
Welby, 65, received the vaccine as part of the priority group of
frontline healthcare workers, because he volunteers at St Thomas'
Hospital, across the road from his London residence at Lambeth
Palace, as part of the hospital's chaplaincy team.
He said that healthcare workers in Britain's National Health Service
and across the world were under immense pressure on the front lines
of the pandemic, and getting the vaccine was something people could
do to help relieve the burden on them.
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 Reluctance by a proportion of
the population to get vaccinated is seen by
public health experts as a major problem, and
the archbishop was one of a number of public
figures in Britain who have sought to persuade
people to accept the jab.
Queen Elizabeth, 94, and her husband Prince
Philip, 99, both received their vaccinations on
Jan. 9. They made no comment, but the decision
by Buckingham Palace to make the news public was
widely seen as a way to emphasise the safety and
importance of vaccination.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by
William James)
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