Pope Francis said during his weekly audience Wednesday the coronavirus pandemic only exacerbates social inequalities already prevalent across the globe.
Francis noted the outbreak has “exposed and aggravated” social inequalities, the Associated Press reported.
He explained disparities are evident within workplaces, schools, and government programs burdened with the responsibility of reducing the effects of the pandemic on the economy.
Francis acknowledged while some children can continue their education, the pandemic has “abruptly interrupted” the education of others.
He claimed “some powerful nations can issue money to deal with the crisis” while others are tasked with “mortgaging the future.”
“These symptoms of inequality reveal a social illness; it is a virus that comes from a sick economy. It is the fruit of unequal economic growth that disregards fundamental human values,” Francis said.
His comments come just one week after he warned wealthy countries against vaccine nationalism, as IJR previously reported.
“It would be sad if the rich are given priority for the Covid-19 vaccine. It would be sad if the vaccine becomes property of this or that nation, if it is not universal and for everyone,” Francis said during his weekly general audience.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also suggested vaccine nationalism is making the pandemic worse, as IJR previously reported.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there are risks with rushing a vaccine before it has been proven safe and effective in large trials.
Since the onset of the pandemic, there have been more than 23.9 million coronavirus cases worldwide and nearly 821,000 deaths.
In the United States alone the number of infections has reached more than 5.7 million with nearly 179,000 deaths. On Aug. 25, the nation reported at least 1,212 new coronavirus deaths and 38,761 new coronavirus cases.
