The pontiff made the comments during an interview with Italian channel Canale 5, scheduled to air on Sunday night.
“It is an ethical duty to get the vaccine, here at the Vatican we are going to start next week, I am also in line to get it,” he said, according to a channel anchor in a preview of the interview, which was released on Saturday.
The full interview, which took place at the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, will air on Sunday at 2:40 pm ET (8:40 pm local time), according to a press release.
“I was amazed, because the population of the United States, which is so disciplined in democracy … But it is a reality, even in the most mature realities there is always something wrong, something about people walking a path against the community, against democracy , against the common good.
“I thank God that it broke out and we saw it well, because it has a remedy, right?” Francis said in a clip seen by CNN, adding that the violence “must be condemned”.
Vatican says vaccine is ‘morally acceptable’
Some groups suggested that vaccines against coronavirus were made with cells from aborted fetuses. The cells are actually designed and cultured in laboratories from tissues acquired many decades ago, and are not made directly from aborted fetuses.
“It is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process,” the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a note approved by Francis.
The declaration was issued and signed by the head of the Congregation in response to several requests for guidance on the use of the vaccine.