Faith leaders from Northeast Ohio join together urging others to get COVID-19 vaccine

CLEVELAND — As the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine continues, some faith leaders in Northeast Ohio joined together to emphasize their thoughts on the importance of getting vaccinated.

In a video released Monday by MetroHealth, multiple religious leaders are shown getting the vaccine. You can watch the video near the bottom of this story.

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Here are some comments from a handful of those faith leaders featured in the vaccination campaign:

• Bishop Eugene Ward Jr. of the Greater Love Baptist Church: “If we don’t get the vaccine, there is no future for many of our people. Not just African Americas. All people.”
• The Rev. E.T. Caviness of Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church: “I’m here because I think this shot is so important and so needed. I wanted to be showing an example.”
• The Rev. Benjamin F. Gohlstin: Heritage Community Baptist Church: “It gives me an additional weapon.”
• The Very Rev. Tracey Lind of Trinity Cathedral Episcopal Church: “I’m somebody with early stage dementia, so I’m sort of at-risk because I forget to do things that I’m supposed to do. Getting the shot is like getting some freedom to have life again, even though I know we’re still supposed to wear our masks, be really safe and still wash our hands.”
• Edwina Moss of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church: “Please, please, please get the vaccine. We need to be protected. The country needs to be protected.”
• Rabbi Stephen Weiss of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation: “To all the members of the Jewish community and the broader Cleveland community, this endeavor is one of the most important things that we’ve ever done.”
• The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church: “I see it as an instrument to save lives and prevent tenacious pain and suffering. I would hope that any anxieties in the community, the nation, the world, that we will be able to overcome them quickly so we can overcome this pandemic.

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MetroHealth said vaccines are safe and effective.

“They are our best hope for a return to hugs, backyard barbecues, family vacations and some semblance of normalcy,” officials said. “MetroHealth leaders strongly encourage our patients to get vaccinated.”

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