Dalai Lama receives coronavirus vaccine

Updated: Mar 6, 2021 / 03:39 AM CST

This photograph provided by Office of his Holiness the Dalai Lama shows the Tibetan spiritual leader receiving a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at Zonal Hospital in Dharamsala, India, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Office of the his holiness the Dalai Lama via AP)

DHARAMSALA, India — The Dalai Lama, the 85-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader, has received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine at a hospital in the north Indian hill town of Dharamshala.

After receiving the injection, he urged people to come forward, be brave and get vaccinated.

Dr. G.D. Gupta of Zonal Hospital, where the shot was administered, told reporters that the Dalai Lama was observed for 30 minutes afterward.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama removes his face mask to greet a member in the crowd as he arrives at the Zonal Hospital to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Dharamsala, India, Saturday, March 6, 2021. Medical officers confirmed that the Tibetan leader got the Covishield vaccine and is not showing any adverse reaction to the vaccine. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Ten other people who live in the Dalai Lama’s residence were also vaccinated, Gupta said. All eleven received the Covishield vaccine, which was developed by Oxford University and U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca, and manufactured by India’s Serum Institute.