A Florida pastor is imploring his parishioners to get vaccinated — after six members of the church recently died from COVID-19 within 10 days.
“Four of them were under the age of 35. All of them were healthy, and the only thing they had in common was they were not vaccinated,” Impact Church senior pastor George Davis told told WJXT-TV.
One of the victims was a woman who was recently married and had a young daughter, he added to WFLA-TV.
“It’s definitely taken a toll on us,” Davis said of the deaths. “Some of [the victims] have been extremely close to us. And to watch some of these people in the prime of their life.”
Hoping to prod unvaccinated parishioners to get their shots, the Arlington, Fla., church set up a vaccination clinic Sunday to encourage inoculations.
Davis said he has pushed parishioners to get the vaccine to counter misinformation — but that many have resisted his calls.
“It’s very frustrating knowing that these were avoidable deaths,” Davis told the Washington Post.