LDS president, apostles over 70 receive COVID-19 vaccine
President Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and former heart surgeon, gets a COVID-19 vaccine Jan 19, 2021.
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gets a COVID vaccination Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, does paperwork prior to getting a COVID vaccination Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gets a COVID-19 vaccination Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
Elder Jeffery R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gets his COVID-19 vaccination Tuesday, Jan. 19,2021.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hands in paperwork before getting a COVID vaccination Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Harriet Uchtdorf, get their COVID shots Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
President Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and other senior church leaders took time Tuesday morning to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Eight senior leaders of the LDS Church and spouses qualified to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine because they are over the age of 70.
Receiving the vaccine were all three members of the First Presidency and five members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and most of their spouses: President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Wendy; President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Kristen; President Henry B. Eyring; President M. Russell Ballard; Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife, Patricia; Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and his wife, Harriet; Elder Quentin L. Cook and his wife, Mary; and Elder D. Todd Christofferson and his wife, Kathy, a church statement said.
The First Presidency also released a statement about the importance of getting vaccinated for COVID-19.
First Presidency statement on Vaccinations
“In word and deed, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has supported vaccinations for generations. As a prominent component of our humanitarian efforts, the Church has funded, distributed and administered life-saving vaccines throughout the world,” the statement said. “Vaccinations have helped curb or eliminate devastating communicable diseases, such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus, smallpox and measles. Vaccinations administered by competent medical professionals protect health and preserve life.”
The letter noted that as the pandemic has spread throughout the world, the LDS Church immediately canceled meetings, closed temples and restricted other activities desiring to be good global citizens and to help fight the pandemic.
“Now, COVID-19 vaccines that many have worked, prayed, and fasted for are being developed, and some are being provided,” the letter said. “Under the guidelines issued by local health officials, vaccinations were first offered to health care workers, first responders, and other high-priority recipients. Because of their age, senior Church leaders over 70 now welcome the opportunity to be vaccinated.”
As appropriate opportunities become available, the church urges its members, employees and missionaries to be good global citizens and help quell the pandemic by safeguarding themselves and others through immunization. Individuals are responsible to make their own decisions about vaccination. In making that determination, we recommend that, where possible, they counsel with a competent medical professional about their personal circumstances and needs, the letter concludes.
Church supports immunizations
The LDS Church has recognized the importance of vaccinations and immunization for decades. “We urge members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to protect their own children through immunization,” the First Presidency said in 1978.
Since 2002, through its humanitarian organization Latter-day Saint Charities, the church has helped fund 168 projects in 46 countries to bless some 116,819,870 people. Latter-day Saint Charities gives monetary support to prominent global immunization partners to procure and deliver vaccinations, monitor diseases, respond to outbreaks, train healthcare workers, and develop elimination and eradication programming, according to the church statement.
The results include more immunized children and fewer lives lost to measles, rubella, maternal and neonatal tetanus, polio, diarrhea, pneumonia and yellow fever.
“Notable success stories of late include the elimination of diseases throughout Africa. In 2019, Latter-day Saint Charities and partners such as UNICEF USA and Kiwanis International helped eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus in Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Late last year, thanks to UNICEF and partners such as Latter-day Saint Charities, Africa eradicated wild poliovirus. And in response to a measles epidemic in Chad in 2019, UNICEF and its partners helped vaccinate 653,535 children between the ages of six months and nine years over a one-week period,” according to church information.
“I’m glad our turn has come to have this vaccination,” Oaks said Tuesday morning. “We’re very hopeful that the general vaccination of the population will help us get ahead of this awful pandemic. It’s hopeful, like the light at the end of the tunnel. There is relief and appreciation involved for those who have invented the vaccine and for those who have caused it to be generally available on a sensible priority system.”
Two members of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares and their wives contracted COVID-19 in 2019. They have recovered and are back serving in their church capacities.