Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, joined other world leaders in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Saturday.
March 6 (UPI) — Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, joined other world leaders in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Saturday. The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso,85, was given a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine early in the morning at Zonal Hospital, Dharamshala, despite earlier plans to vaccinate him and members of his staff at his residence at McLeodganj, India, Hindustan Times reported. « His Holiness said he would take the injection at the place where the common people were being inoculated, » Kangara Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati told the Times. « It was his decision. We were arranging to vaccinate him at his home. » In a video message obtained by the news organization, the Dalai Lama encouraged others to get the shot. « This injection is very helpful, » he said in the video message. « Others should also take it for greater benefit. » The spiritual leader arrived at the hospital in a motorcade with followers lining the streets to catch a glimpse of him and seek his blessings, according to the Indian daily newspaper. The Dalai Lama has lived in McLeodganj since fleeing Tibet after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese occupation. India has reported more than 11 million cases and 157,656 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University global tracker.
