Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, gets his first COVID-19 injection. PICTURE: Twitter.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and used social media to urge others to follow suit.
In a statement posted on his Twitter account along with a picture of him receiving the injection, the Archbishop asked others to “please get the jab”.
“I want to encourage everyone to get the Covid-19 vaccine when they are invited,” he wrote. “Staff across the NHS [National Health Service], and health workers across the world, are under immense pressure on the front lines of this pandemic. They deserve not just our admiration but our support – and getting the vaccine when we have the opportunity is something we can all do to help relieve the burden on them.”
The leader of the Church of England, who was vaccinated because of his work as a volunteer chaplain at St Thomas’ hospital in London, described the vaccine as an “answer to prayer”.
“Jesus Christ call us to love our neighbour as ourselves,” he wrote. “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. 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.”