Like other Christians worldwide, Jeffress says, he’s been “praying for a cure” for COVID and considers the vaccines an answer to prayer. First Baptist paused in-person worship for a while during the pandemic, and the pastor was encouraged when vaccines allowed congregants to gather again. By rolling up your sleeves, he said earlier this year, “You can come back [to church] with a high degree of confidence” and “really don’t have to worry about what anybody else here does or doesn’t do.”
In his comments to the AP last week, Jeffress confirms that COVID has taken “the lives of many of my church members.” He also describes “heartbreaking situations where families had to say goodbye to their loved ones using FaceTime.”
While admitting that “no vaccine is perfect,” the pastor says, “I believe that looking at the odds, I would be much better off taking the vaccine than ignoring it.” According to a recent CDC study, unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely than vaccinated people to require hospitalization from COVID.
