The Pontifical Academy for Life joined with the World Medical Association and the German Medical Association in a July 2 press conference highlighting efforts to overcome “vaccine hesitancy.” Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia remarked that vaccines “are health essentials,” and insisted that they should be made available to all who need them.

At the same time, the archbishop said that “vaccines have a history that is marked by injustice and oppression,” and suggested that this history explains why many people, particularly in the Third World, have chosen not to take a Covid vaccine. He also observed that “malaria and tuberculosis claim far more victims in Africa than Covid-19,” suggesting that health-care investments should focus on basic sanitation in needy countries.

The other speakers at the July 2 press conference concentrated on efforts to overcome resistance to the Covid vaccines.