The CDC’s Dr. Jay Butler on Vaccines, Pastors, and Churches

"Be willing to roll up your sleeves to document that you've received the immunization."

Dr. Ed Stetzer: How would you encourage pastors, church leaders and fellow Christians to see the importance of the vaccine, see it for their own health in some cases, but also to see it as a way love their neighbor? How would you encourage them to communicate and articulate?

Dr. Jay Butler:

First of all, be a leader.

I would encourage everyone to take a vaccine selfie, or to have somebody else take that picture. If you get nervous when there’s a needle going through your arm, I’d encourage you to take that picture as a way to show your leadership and reassure your congregation that the vaccine is safe.

Another way to offer encouragement is to work with your local or state health department to see if your church facility might be something that could be used as a vaccination site. Whether that’s on a Sunday, such as after a worship service or during the week, this is something else that churches can do to support their communities.

Now, in terms of the, the reservations that people may have about receiving the vaccine, I hear two arguments. Oftentimes, they're unsure if it's safe. Back in December, when the first MRN vaccines became available, the line I heard actually from a number of my healthcare colleagues was “You go first.”

That’s where I think the leadership is important.

Be willing to roll up your sleeves to document that you've received the immunization.

Sharing your experience is important because I do think people want to know what is it like to receive this. I'll be very honest, these are vaccines. Some people take it all in stride. Other people feel pretty bad for a day or so, particularly after the second dose. So share those experiences. Ultimately when people see you feeling quite normal again after a day or two, I think that's quite reassuring.

Now that we have well over a hundred million Americans who have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the data is really strong that these are safe vaccines. We had some of the early reports of severe allergic reactions, and now we have a more stable data that suggests that these really are quite uncommon reactions. And so that's a very encouraging. Read More