Vaccination should be voluntary and no matter if the case concerns vaccination or non-vaccination there should be no coercion or judgment-insulting of each other, - reads the statement of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, which is spread on the social network by the Public Relations Service of the Patriarchate.

Interpressnews provides the statement of the unchanged:

"Various information is periodically disseminated about the vaccination of the Catholicos-Patriarch, so I will say the following briefly:

Whether the Patriarch gets vaccinated or not, it cannot be a determinant for others.

Neither the positive nor the negative attitude of this or that clergyman towards vaccination can be an example, because it is part of the medical field, it requires an individual approach and is beyond our competence.

We believe that according to the questions of the population, the public should be provided with information from specialists in the relevant field to help people make personal choices.

Vaccination should be voluntary and no matter if the case concerns vaccination or non-vaccination there should be no coercion or judgment-insulting of each other; However, it should be noted that compliance with the regulations in a pandemic is essential for everyone.

The resolution on this was adopted by the Holy Synod at the sitting of February 11, 2021, where it is also said:

"The Church of Georgia greatly appreciates the good that medicine, in general, brings to the protection of human health, but can not take responsibility for the promotion of vaccination, as it is the competence and responsibility of health workers," - reads the statement

source: IPN