CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte pastor is encouraging church members hesitant of getting vaccinated to get the shot.

What You Need to Know

  • Pastor Barrett Berry said he has convinced more than 100 people get vaccinated through conversation
  • He said his goal is to save lives
  • According to the American Psychological Association, when talking to someone with different views about the vaccine, it's important to listen to each other's concerns

Barrett Berry, who is the lead pastor at Empowered Living Church, said through conversation he has been able to convince more than 100 people to get the vaccine.

He recognizes it can be a divisive topic, but he’s not shying away from it. 

“I had to console too many families who have lost loved ones, and if I can deter one family from having that difficult conversation of not being able to see their loved ones in their last moments, not being to visit someone in a nursing home… that means a lot,” Berry said.

This is one of the reasons Berry decided to get vaccinated in April.

“I realized from the onset, this was not going anywhere, and I feel if we were going to get back to normal, I needed to do my part,” Berry said. “And because I am a pastor and I’m around people, I didn’t want to infect anybody."

However, he remembers he was hesitant to get the vaccine at first.

“How they treated Black people in this country and I was really hesitant of that really, but then I got this understanding, they weren’t targeting people of color, Black people, with the vaccine,” Berry said.

He said he’s now using the same argument to others who have similar concerns. He said his conversations about vaccines are always respectful and cordial.

“Their only issue is they are misinformed. They are knowledgeable but misinformed,” Berry said.

Berry who used to be a health care policy professor shares information about the latest trends.

“First thing I say is 'you’re awful courageous.' That’s my new thing. Why am I courageous? Because the only people who are really dying are people who are unvaccinated,” Berry said.

Recent research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found people vaccinated against COVID-19 are 10 times less likely to be hospitalized or die from the virus.

Berry is planning to have in-person worship next spring at 5735 Dixie River road in Charlotte.

He plans to continue providing COVID-19 vaccinations at the church. In the coming weeks, the church is also offering COVID-19 testing.

According to the American Psychological Association's Chief Science Officer, Dr. Mitch Prinstein, when talking to someone about getting vaccinated, it is important to listen to that person’s concerns and ask them in which situations they would feel comfortable getting vaccinated.

“It’s really important to help people express how it is that they feel, explain the benefits of a vaccine to somebody else or help them to talk about both the pros and the cons, so that way you can listen and really help support and guide their thinking without telling them or judging them,” Prinstein said.

Prinstein said individual decisions about getting the shot are similar to ways other health behaviors are talked about, including quitting smoking, exercising or getting other vaccines. He said the difference this time is this individual decision might also affect the health of others.