UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Union County government and community leaders want to make sure there were not any disparities in information about or access to vaccines among minority communities.
In the spirit of this effort, church and state are working together to aid in public health efforts.
Using modern technology and established community trust with local pastors, Union County’s health services department is urging vaccinations and addressing questions and concerns directly from the community, including the pews of the county’s churches.
Wondering how did they did it? Here is a 48-minute YouTube video.
For Bishop Osco E. Gardin, Jr. at Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, the video represents a lifetime of pastoral work in progress.
"I gave my life to Christ officially at the age of 8, started preaching at the age of 9,” Gardin recalls while standing in his church entryway. "When I told my father about what I believe was my call to preach, he thought I was only interested in doing it because he was, but he soon discovered that was not my reason,” Gardin joked.
He’s seen almost everything in his 26 years at the Monroe church, but the pandemic was a new challenge.
"The human touch is powerful, that’s even biblical. So to not be able to reach out and touch and hug and embrace one another really posed its own set of challenges,” Gardin explained.
Elizabeth Missionary Baptist was not spared its blows from the virus. They turned to virtual services, limited in-person gathering before stopping altogether, and had to find new ways to connect.
Gardin said his role as pastor did not let up, since he considers it a lifetime commitment to lead, which is why he agreed to be in a Union County health video.
Gardin, who at the time of his interview with Spectrum News 1, had not signed up for a vaccine yet, said he wanted to help facilitate a conversation and is confident their video helped some people decide to vaccinate.
"I just have not come to that complete decision for myself as of yet. So, again, we wanted to make sure they had the information so they could make an informed and intelligent decision as it relates to whether or not they should get the vaccination,” Gardin said.
His pastoral partner in the video, Pastor Melvin Tate, said he also felt it was his responsibility as a community leader to participate.
"I felt a sense of calling and responsibility to sound the alarm to get vaccinated,” Tate explained.
He is lead pastor at Mount Calvary A.M.E. Zion Church in Monroe. He said in the YouTube video, and told Spectrum News 1, he did not hesitate to get the vaccine.
“I’ve gotten my two shots of Pfizer, and I’d like to add, I’ve had no adverse reactions. Little discomfort the second day, where the shot was given, three or four hours later it was gone. Second time, the same thing,” Tate is recorded saying in the YouTube video.
Tate, who has suffered a variety of medical ailments over the years, said he wanted to be a helper and make other people healthier, even volunteering to be filmed as he was vaccinated, to further emphasis their safety.
So, when the opportunity arose to be in the county's video, he did not have to think twice about his participation.
The video features a roundtable discussion between Gardin, Tate and Dr. Stephen Keener, medical director of Union County Public Health.
The two pastors said it is a potentially life-saving message, which is crucial to reach their communities.
"The pandemic just made me focus again on those disparities, the disproportionate number of people that were not being given access to the same care. Of course, we saw that early on,” Tate said, reflecting on historic disparities with access to healthcare among minority communities.
"If you want to communicate to those who are in the Black and brown community, the best way to do that is through the medium of the church,” Gardin said.
You can watch the video in its entirety, or in portions, here.
Dr. Keener answers their questions about vaccine efficacy, dispells misinformation on the vaccines and their distribution and addresses why public health officials say it is safe.
At the end of the day, Tate said he hoped people take away a Christian message to help others.
"Am I my brother’s keeper? And the answer to that is, yes. We ought to feel the connection, the human connection, that we’re responsible for each other,” he said while sitting in a first row pew of his Monroe Church.
