![]() ![]() “I was a skeptic when they first had them come out, but what made me change my mind was statistics,” Brown said. Pastor Keith Brown said he got a shot, and that the event helped some who were skeptical of the vaccines make the decision - including him. Last month, the Bayview Baptist Church, San Diego hosted a clinic in collaboration with the San Diego Black Nurses Association where 500 people got vaccines. ![]() Some local churches are taking vaccine advocacy a step further by actually helping put shots into parishioners' arms. “To make sure things are as safe as can be, that our life in this world is considered a gift, and should be protected, and the COVID vaccine is a part of that.” “Under the Jewish religion, our obligation is to seek and protect health for our children and those around us,” Meltzer said. Rabbi Scott Meltzer of Ohr Shalom Synagogue in Bankers Hill said he recently held a 90-minute lecture on why Jewish people are “religiously obligated” to take the COVID-19 vaccines. Matthew Bowler The Ohr Shalom Synagogue in Bankers Hill, April 13, 2021. “We’d like to keep doing the right thing, and the right thing now is to promote the vaccines.” “We’ve followed all the safety protocols throughout the pandemic, and thank God because of that we’ve had no outbreaks, no one got infected here, and that’s because we did the right thing,” Hassane said. He said he and other religious leaders work hard to combat a deep-rooted mistrust of government and science that exists among some of their congregants. They are also planning a vaccination clinic at the mosque in a few weeks. Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego said his mosque held a virtual session on Zoom last month with two doctors from UC San Diego to answer members’ questions and address concerns. Other traditionally conservative religious organizations are also advocating for vaccinations locally. “The Pope on down, every leader on the Catholic side, one after another is trying to explain the situation, that the vaccines are perfectly healthy and ethical to use,” Eckery said. To that end, Bishop Robert McElroy wrote a pastoral letter that was read aloud at every San Diego parish encouraging people to get vaccinated and addressing fears that he wrote are “rooted in misinformation.” The church set up a website to address concerns, including that some vaccines use fetal tissue. “We will do everything we can to encourage people to obtain a vaccination, to get it done so we can resume normal life.” “We haven’t shut down masses, taken the precautions we’ve taken just to let people ignore the opportunity of getting a vaccine,” said Kevin Eckery, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of San Diego. This fact led some local religious leaders to actively advocate for members to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Religious services were the source of at least 30 San Diego outbreaks between March and November 2020, according to the data. By mid-December, there were three COVID-19 outbreaks at Awaken Churches responsible for 81 cases, according to data obtained by KPBS. ![]() Late last year, the church defied cease and desist orders from San Diego County for continuing to hold indoor services, where few people wore masks. RELATED: Awaken Church Pushes Back Against County, Vowing 'Political Ramifications'Īwaken Church did not respond to repeated calls and emails requesting comment. ![]()
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