South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 89, came out of retirement to help the country launch its drive to inoculate older citizens against the coronavirus.

“All my life I have tried to do the right thing and, today, getting vaccinated against Covid-19 is definitely the right thing to do,” said Tutu, who won the Nobel Prize Prize in 1984 for his work to end apartheid, South Africa’s previous regime of racist rule by the country’s white minority.

“It was wonderful to get out of the house and meet these dedicated healthcare workers who gave us our vaccines,” said Tutu in a statement. “To all of you on the frontlines who have been working to keep us safe for more than a year now, I salute you.”