Whatever the reason, [R. B.] Holmes said the crisis has created an emergency for black people, and African American community leaders, especially pastors, have to find a way to respond. After one too many funerals in 2020, he felt compelled to action.
“Why sit here as leaders and watch our people die and our families die?”
So Holmes organized the Statewide Coronavirus Vaccination Community Education and Engagement Task Force.
The group is partnering with hospitals and the state to better distribute vaccines—as they become available—through local churches to the people who are most at risk. On January 10, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that seven predominantly black churches would each be getting 500 doses of the vaccine to distribute to people over the age of 65. The state hopes to soon expand the program quickly, distributing vaccines to about 50 churches across Florida.
Holmes said the task force has made it their mission to locate 40 primarily black churches, community centers, and colleges to be involved with distributing the vaccine by January 31. He hopes Florida’s plan is replicated throughout the country and wants the task force to become a model for how to reach the black community.
“Our plan is very systemic, very measurable, very achievable,” he said.
How black pastors are organizing vaccine distribution programs for their communities: https://t.co/fXfR67lRnk
— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) January 24, 2021