COVID-19 Kills 7 Church Members In Florida; pastor accuses vaccine misinformation

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (CNN) – A church mourns the deaths of members of its congregation after seven of them died from COVID-19.

The church pastor attributes the deaths to what he calls vaccine misinformation.

In his church, Senior Pastor George Davis prays for higher vaccination rates among his church members.

In a recent 10-day span, he said healthy members of his church had died from COVID-19 and none of them had been vaccinated.

“We have known six people last week over a 10-day period who died from Covid. Four were under 35, ”Davis said. “And then in fact yesterday we had a seventh person who died. They are all people who are close to our hearts and whom we love very much. A young man I have known since he was little. So it was really difficult. Young man in his prime who still intended to get married and live a full life.

What frustrates Davis most is all the vaccine misinformation many in his congregation believe, like: people are dying in record numbers and it’s just not being reported. I literally had someone here tell me recently that there are as many people in hospitals here in Jacksonville struggling in intensive care units who are vaccinated as there are unvaccinated. .

CNN analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that more than 99.99% of fully vaccinated people avoid hospitalization and death.

Davis and his wife are vaccinated, along with their three children. And he delivered a strong pro-vaccine message from the top of the pulpit.

“I don’t believe that doctors and scientists, no matter how much school they’ve been through, I don’t believe that they can find cures and cures for the body without a divine presence, Almighty God, theirs. giving that wisdom and giving them that idea to understand it, ”he said.

So far, Impact Church has run two vaccination campaigns, the most recent last Sunday at the church, making it easier for those who have come to pray to get vaccinated.

Andrea and Rodney, two church members who did not give their last name, got vaccinated very early on, although Andrea was hesitant at first.

“I would say do it so you don’t have to be in the hospital,” Andrea said. “Do it so that no one can hear you struggling to breathe in your last days. Do this so that no one has to say it was preventable when something happens.

The loss of members of their congregation was a wake-up call.

“These aren’t people you just go to church with on Sundays. These are people we live with, people we saw two weeks ago at a rally. It’s more than losing a church member. It’s really losing family, ”Rodney said.

Sheena and Reggie Smith just got vaccinated about a week ago.

Reggie Smith waited because he felt the vaccine had been rolled out too quickly, even though the creation of mRNA vaccines had been in the works for years, but now he’s relieved.

“By just getting that extra buffer for anything that could possibly attack your body, you’ll also have something to help you fight it,” he said.

Just days after being vaccinated, their good friend and fellow church member died of COVID-19.

“It’s very difficult. It’s very difficult. I’m sorry. It’s very difficult to lose someone so close and see life cut short,” Sheena Smith said. “Being in your thirties and see it cut short Nobody wants to go through this Nobody wants to see this.

Despite the pastor’s best efforts, however, some church members still refuse to be vaccinated.

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