Florida Church Urging Vaccinations After 6 Members — All Unvaccinated — Die of COVID in 10 Days
news4 jax/ youtube Pastor Joseph Cooper
A Florida church is urging its members to get vaccinated after six parishioners — all of whom were unvaccinated — died of COVID-19 in the last ten days.
Impact Church in Jacksonville is reeling from the sudden losses, with most of the deaths occurring in younger members.
"All were healthy, all had no preexisting conditions. Four of them were under the age of 30, and they were all unvaccinated," Pastor Joseph Cooper told News4Jax.
The influx of positive cases began in late July, and along with the six members who died, another 15 to 20 are in the hospital with COVID-19 now, ten more are recovering at home and three to five vaccinated members have also tested positive. Those who died were only in the hospital briefly before succumbing to the virus.
"It's pain," Pastor George Davis told News4Jax. "These are actual people that I know, that I have pastored. One 24-year-old kid, I've known him since he was a toddler."
The church requires members to wear masks during services, Davis said, and encourages social distancing. But the virus hit their unvaccinated members hard.
RELATED: Almost All COVID-Related Deaths in the U.S. Are Now Among Unvaccinated People
In response, Impact Church hosted their second public vaccination clinic on Sunday in conjunction with UF Health, offering anyone 12 and older the Pfizer vaccine. At their first clinic in March, they were able to give 800 people their first dose, and had a line out the door on Sunday.
"We believe that the doctors are created by the Lord, and he gave them the information to create this vaccine," Cooper said. "That's his answer to this horrible pandemic."
In response to questions about why they were hosting another vaccination clinic, Davis tweeted that he's "tired of crying about and burying people I love."
"So take the political & religious games somewhere else!!" he added.
RELATED VIDEO: Nurse Whose Husband Died of COVID Is on a Door-to-Door Vaccine Crusade: 'I Can Help Save Others'
Impact Church also had a panel of experts from the University of Florida on hand at the clinic to answer any questions about the vaccine. They were able to vaccinate more than 200 people, 35% of whom were teenagers, according to the Washington Post.
"Several people who told me out of their own mouth, 'I wasn't comfortable doing this, but because I'm here in my church, because I've heard my pastor talk about it, I'm more comfortable doing it,' " Davis told the Post. "And it isn't just the elderly folks. It was a lot of young people, who are also being affected by it."
Florida is currently dealing with one of the biggest surges in COVID-19 cases in the country and has repeatedly broken their own record for most daily cases, which had been set back in January during the holiday surge. On Aug. 3 they had 50,997 new cases, accounting for about a third of all cases in the U.S. that day, according to The New York Times. Currently, 49% of Floridians are fully vaccinated.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the CDC, WHO and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
