No Jab, No Church Approaches
So many questions yet one thing is for certain - if you are not vaccinated, you cannot enter your place of worship. Period.
As October 4, 2021, approaches, religious body leaders are prepping their places of worship – temples, churches – to receive their flock after five months or so of no social gathering.
The floors, pews and alters are being polished and wiped, the gateway into the church scrubbed and painted, the shrubs and grass, trimmed and cut and so on.
But the questions are – are you fully vaccinated and is your church leader constantly reminding during the virtual church sessions and sermons to do so?
As alluded to by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in his address on September 16, all workplaces, tertiary institutions, houses of worship, hotels, restaurants, cafés, cinemas, gyms, pools, and tattoo parlours will be able to open at 70 per cent capacity, but only to fully-vaccinated persons.
If you have only received one jab, fret not - you can still attend the virtual sermons which we hope that more churches and places of worship are taking onboard.
Hence, once you are fully vaccinated, then you can enjoy the benefits of worshipping face-to-face.
If you have not been vaccinated, then perhaps this is a serious time of reflection.
We hear of church leaders still having conflicting issues on getting the vaccination against COVID-19.
What would happen to the flock? Does this faction intend to remain indoors and listen in on the sermons and praises virtually?
Not only this but do they wish to be kept out of other venues Mr Bainimarama highlighted above?
So many questions yet one thing is for certain - if you are not vaccinated, you cannot enter your place of worship. Period.
On that note, observing COVID-safe protocols is paramount:
■Masks must be worn,
■Two metres of physical distance should be maintained where possible, and
■careFIJI must be installed on everyone’s phones, with Bluetooth switched on, otherwise, these churches and venues alike risk serious fines or being shut down.
To ensure that a church member, student or citizen is being truthful about their vaccination status, we are grateful that Vaccination Authentication Exercise is enabling this.
The VAX-Check tool allows for real-time digital verification of vaccine status that venues can use to confirm the vaccine status of their patrons.
Vaccinate Fiji and let’s win this war.
RANOBA BAOA
Feedback: ranobab@fijisun.com.fj