6 unvaccinated Florida church members die from Covid within 10 days, pastor says

Six members of a church in Florida, all unvaccinated, died from Covid-19 in less than two weeks, a pastor said.

The Reverend George Davis of Impact Church in Jacksonville mourned the victims Sunday during a live church service.

“We have now had six members of our church over the course of a few weeks now who have passed away from Covid,” Davis said. “It just tore our hearts out.”

None of the victims were vaccinated and four were in good health and were under 35, Davis said.

The pastor told NBC affiliate WFLA of Tampa that the deaths of the members had “certainly taken their toll” on the community and urged the public to get vaccinated.

The church held a Covid-19 vaccination clinic on Sunday – its second event since March when 800 people received their first dose, according to the WFLA.

“All I know is that the passion of my heart is to help the people I am called to serve, and to do all I can to help them be in a healthier place. “, did he declare.

The second vaccination event came just days after Florida broke its record for new daily Covid cases. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state reported 23,903 new cases of Covid on Friday – the third time that week that Florida has surpassed its record for daily new cases of Covid.

Covid hospitalizations in the state have also increased to record levels for six consecutive days last week, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

About 49.6% of the population of Florida has been fully vaccinated, according to the NBC vaccination tracker. This places Florida slightly behind other large states like California (53.5%), New York (57.8%) and Pennsylvania (53.1%), but ahead of Illinois (49.1%) and Texas (44.5%).