“The West Virginia Board of Education on Tuesday reinstated a school vaccination mandate after the state Supreme Court paused a lower court’s ruling that allowed parents to cite religious beliefs to opt out of shots required for their children to attend classes.” - AP
“First, how much are vaccination rates really falling? Second, is our new health and human services secretary, longtime vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., making people more wary of vaccines? Third, where might we go from here? And, finally, should you cancel those playdates?” - The Dispatch
“The declining belief in the importance of vaccines is essentially confined to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, as the views of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have changed little over the past 24 years.” - Gallup
“The new survey shows that 58 percent of white evangelicals say there should be a requirement for children attending public schools to be vaccinated, while 40 percent say parents should be able to choose” - CToday
“The Novavax vaccine is made of copies of the spike protein that coats the coronavirus, packaged into nanoparticles that to the immune system resemble a virus….Like the other vaccines used in the U.S., the Novavax shots have proved highly effective at preventing COVID-19’s most severe outcomes” - C.Index
“…I’m pro-life. I believe in saving the life of the unborn as much as those that are born…and medicine is pro-life.” - C.Leaders
“Advocates say more subtle approaches and one-on-one engagement may actually do more to inform the unvaccinated without further dividing the faithful.” - C. Today
“Conservative pastors and leaders are encouraging the shot while the people in the pews have been more divided.” - C.Today
“Theologically fraught conspiracy theories have been swirling online, particularly in some evangelical circles. In a recent video posted online, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., similarly suggested — without evidence — a connection between the Mark of the Beast and vaccines.” - NPR
Though reluctance toward COVID vaccination seems to be on the decline, Pew Research found that evangelicals are among the most hesitant in the U.S.
“Hesitancy” is a broad term, and there’s plenty of room for rational and well informed people to “hesitate.” We know the vaccines were developed much faster than usual. We know that the RNA based vaccines use a partially new approach.
