Archbishop Desmond Tutu pledges to get vaccinated
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has pledged to get vaccinated against COVID-19 once vaccines are made available.
In a statement, Tutu said that although the virus has destroyed many lives, it can be stopped.
Tutu also assured South Africans that there is nothing to fear, that the vaccine is a "safe and effective way of protecting people against infectious diseases before they even come into contact with them."
"Vaccines have eradicated terrible diseases. There is nothing to fear. Vaccination uses your body’s natural defences to build resistance to infections," the statement reads.
"It makes your immune system stronger, and because vaccines contain only killed or weakened forms of disease-causing viruses or bacteria, they do not cause the disease or put you at risk of its complications."
Tutu drew a comparison to TB - which remains the country's number-one cause of death - saying many countries around the world do not suffer from the disease due to vaccines and effective treatment.
He said the same can be done with the coronavirus.
"The percentage of a population that needs to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity differs from disease to disease.
"We do not yet know what the percentage for Covid-19 is, but we do know this: the more of us who have the vaccine, the better for all of us."
"I am pledging to have a COVID-19 vaccine, because I already know what it is to lose years of your life to a disease," Tutu concluded.
