Okla. faith group promotes vaccines
Episcopal Diocese launches COVID awareness campaign
An Oklahoma faith group has launched a series of videos encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
By Friday, the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma had released two of three videos tied to its local vaccine campaign. The third video in the “I got mine” campaign was scheduled to be released on Saturday on social media platforms.
The Rt. Rev. Poulson Reed, bishop of the Oklahoma Episcopal diocese, said the local messaging effort is being conducted in conjunction with a national Episcopal Church USA vaccination campaign led by the denomination’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry.
“We wanted to do everything we could to encourage people in Oklahoma to get this vaccine,” Reed said.
“We’ve got about 15,000 Episcopalians in the state of Oklahoma and so these messages are certainly for them, to encourage them to get vaccinated if they haven’t, but also encouraging our Episcopalians to talk to their friends and their family and to really try and spread the word that these vaccines are very safe, very effective and we can have that help to protect our families, our neighbors and our friends if we get it.”
The vaccination video series comes as Oklahoma experiences a spike in new COVID-19 cases.
Poulson said the vaccine protects the vaccinated person but by getting vaccinated, individuals are also helping to protect vulnerable populations like the elderly and children who can’t get the vaccine because of their age.
“The timing (of the campaign) was so important to us for exactly that reason,” Poulson said.
“With this delta variant spreading so quickly, hospitals filling up, kids are back in school. We really want to emphasize that this is a way that we can protect the vulnerable who are around us.”
Each of the three Oklahoma “I got mine” videos features a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma sharing why they decided to get vaccinated.
Poulson said he contracted COVID-19 in the spring. He got vaccinated as soon as he was able to do so. He appears in one of the three Oklahoma “I got mine” videos. Dr. Steve Orwig is featured in another video and the final video features the Rev. Kay Bowman-Harvey, a deacon at All Saint’s Episcopal Church in Miami, Oklahoma. Poulson said he was pleased to see that the videos were circulating widely on social media platforms. He said the campaign is ultimately rooted in faith.
“For us as Episcopalians, one of our most important beliefs is that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It’s one of the core messages of Jesus and it’s one of the core messages of the Episcopal Church,” the bishop said.
“So when we get our vaccine, that is a very concrete way that we are loving our neighbor as ourselves. We’re protecting ourselves with the vaccine, but even more than that we are protecting others who are around us. We believe that is what God would have us do.”
The Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma includes 68 congregations, five Episcopal schools, two senior care centers, and a conference center and camp.
Meanwhile, in launching the national Episcopal Church USA vaccination campaign, the presiding bishop Curry explained his reasons for getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I got the polio vaccine as a little child,” Curry said in a news release. “Right now, adults can get the COVID-19 vaccine to help to protect our children. That’s what the Bible means when Jesus says, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”