Across the transom, along with the comment: “These days, it’s not like 70 year old men just drop dead”…
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him, amen.
On Aug. 31, 2020, Father John Fields received his first injection in the vaccine trials for Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine as part of a study group at the University of Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Father John Fields, an archpriest of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, who was communication director for the archeparchy, died at his home Nov. 28. He was 70.
The cause of death has yet to be determined, according to an announcement from the archeparchy.
Father Fields had volunteered to participate in the third and final phase of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trial.
In a Nov. 17 interview with Catholic News Service, he said he felt no ill effects from injections he received during the trials in late August and early October. When he received an invitation to volunteer for this from the University of Pennsylvania Aug. 28, he told CNS, he said “yes” immediately.
“I did not hesitate. For me, it was a go. I just hoped I would be accepted,” he said, adding that he had no concern about the risks. “I thought it was a win-win situation.”
By being in the study, he felt he might be able to “contribute in some small way to the development of an effective vaccine that would help stop this worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and the fear, suffering and death that it has already caused to millions and end the shutdowns and help restore society once again to a normal lifestyle.”