The Dalai Lama has encouraged people to get immunized as he was given the first shot of a vaccine against COVID-19, Complex reported on Sunday.
The 85-year old Tibetan spiritual leader, who marked his first public appearance since January last year, initially planned to get vaccinated at his home, but decided to get the shot at the Zonal Hospital in Dharmsala, India on Saturday.
"In order to prevent some serious problems, this injection is very, very helpful," Aljazeera quoted him as saying, adding that "more people should have the courage to take this injection."
The Dalai Lama was injected with the CoviShield vaccine and was observed for 30 minutes afterwards. India allowed inoculations for the general public starting March 1.
India has the second-highest caseload of the virus next to the U.S., with more than 11 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 157,000 related fatalities.
The vaccine was developed by Oxford University and U.K.-headquartered pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and produced by the Serum Institute of India.
According to Dr. Gurdarshan Gupta, Kangra district's Chief Medical Officer, the spiritual leader chose to travel to the immunization site "like a common man." Ten other people who live in the Dalai Lama's residence were also given the vaccine, Gupta said.
The Dalai documented the vaccination on his Instagram page and posted a video in which he called on others to get the vaccine. India is immunizing those over the age of 60 and 45 with co-morbidities as part of the country's second phase vaccination campaign.
The Dalai made Dharmsala his headquarters in 1959, fleeing Tibet after a failed revolt against Chinese occupation. China does not recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile and accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to separate Tibet from China.
Since the Dalai Lama has been running a parallel government from his mountainous dwelling in Dharamsala, the Associated Press reported.
