The pandemic continues to inflict significant harm on our nation and world. The plague has brought illness and death, financial challenge, and emotional distress, and the toll is rising. The arrival of the vaccines has given us reason to be hopeful. However, in order to get maximum participation in the vaccination campaign, this is the moment for government to partner with our faith communities.

The vaccine will only be effective if people get it. And the challenges to that are both emotional and logistical. Emotional, due to the concerns people may have about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy given the record speed of its development. The logistical challenge is that our country has never undertaken the overwhelming task of inoculating tens of millions of its people in a matter of months. How many people at a time will be able to make appointments and line up at the CVS, Walgreens, or the doctor’s office? It is simply unrealistic.

Here is where our faith communities can help.

Read the full article at USA Today.

Walter Kim

Walter Kim became the president of the National Association of Evangelicals in January 2020. He previously served as a pastor at Boston’s historic Park Street Church and at churches in Vancouver, Canada and Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as a campus chaplain at Yale University. He preaches, writes and engages in collaborative leadership to connect the Bible to the intellectual and cultural issues of the day. He regularly teaches in conferences and classrooms; addresses faith concerns with elected officials and public institutions; and provides theological and cultural commentary to leading news outlets. He serves on the boards of Christianity Today and World Relief and consults with a wide range of organizations. Kim received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, his M.Div. from Regent College in Vancouver, and his B.A. from Northwestern University.