A Florida pastor is pleading with his parishioners to get vaccinated after several members of a church died within a span of ten days after contracting COVID.
Reverend George Davis, the senior Pastor at the Impact Church in Jacksonville, is planning to push for his members to get vaccinated after six members of the church died from COVID-related complications, WFLA reported on Sunday.
“One mother, who just was recently married, to celebrate her one-year wedding anniversary with a young daughter and to now see her gone, when you really just know that was avoidable,” Reverend Davis told WFLA, adding that the virus has “taken a toll on us.”
Florida church hosts vaccination clinic after six members die of COVID-19 https://t.co/hMGOx5vqlO pic.twitter.com/wkMTGO0FYk
— The Hill (@thehill) August 9, 2021
Davis said that all of the members who died were healthy but not vaccinated, according to WFLA, and said that four of them were under 35-years-old. (RELATED: Vaccine Boosters Could Be Here In September, Former FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb Says)
“These are actual people that I know, that I have pastored,” Davis told WJXT. “One 24-year-old kid, I’ve known him since he was a toddler.”
In just two weeks, six members of a Florida church died from Covid-19. All were unvaccinated, their pastor says.
On Sunday, the church hosted a vaccination clinic. https://t.co/X7efYqkOkU
— CNN (@CNN) August 9, 2021
The first positive case in the church was reportedly detected in late July, WJXT reported, which led to a surge in cases in the church’s community. Davis added that about 15 to 20 members are in the hospital with the virus, with another 10 isolating at home.
“All I know is my heart’s passion is to help the people that I’m called to serve and do whatever I can to help see to it that they are in a healthier place,” Davis told WJXT regarding a vaccine drive the church held on Sunday, partnering with UF Health.
Last December, eight nuns in Wisconsin died in one week following a Catholic convent by a church outside of Milwaukee.