Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church opens coronavirus vaccination centre in cathedral
- It is the first religious institution to do so in the country, amid rising cases and deaths
- Such organisations had been cautious about even encouraging population to be jabbed
Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church has opened a coronavirus vaccination centre in one of its Kyiv cathedrals – the first religious institution to do so in a country where infections have spiked.
Religious institutions in the ex-Soviet country had been cautious to urge people to get vaccinated, let alone allow their premises to be used as vaccination points.
But clerics of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the third-largest in the country, on Sunday opened the doors of their main Kyiv cathedral to those wanting a jab.
“The church sees no reason to refuse the vaccine,” said Father Taras Zheblinsky, head of the Greek Catholic Church’s media department.
“Taking the vaccine is a way to save your life and health,” he said, standing inside the large Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in eastern Kyiv.