In a sermon preached last Sunday, Dean Lawrence Kimberley outlines the case for Covid vaccination.

"Last weekend, Destiny Church leader, Brian Tamaki, led an anti-vaccination protest in Auckland, with events also being held in Wellington and Christchurch. At the protest, Tamaki spoke, telling supporters they’ve had a “gutsful”, that they are sick of the government stripping away freedoms and rights of everyday kiwis. “We’ve all gone to prison” he is reported as saying. I was at a breakfast meeting of Christian leaders on Tuesday morning who were all muttering about how embarrassing Tamaki’s anti vax remarks were for the Church.

The Diocese of Christchurch is a pro-vaccination diocese, and our church leaders are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated as the best way to look after the most vulnerable in our community. Over the last week or so, the subject of vaccinations passports is coming up more and more in conversation. While my instinct is never to turn away people from the door when gathering for worship, should the government mandate vaccinations passports we will have to decide how we as Church would respond to that. That’s an ‘if and when’ conversation. The issue right now is to encourage people to get vaccinated. I have now had both jabs and can tell you that I am fully vaccinated.

Yesterday I received an advisory from the InterChurch Bioethics Council which sets out a Christian response to this question, and I would like to share this information with you. I will make sure that the actual article is posted on our social media platforms so that you can all access this and read it for yourselves. The content of this sermon is a summary of, and uses information from, the InterChurch Bioethics Council article.

Now that we are in the second year of the COVID19 pandemic, there are currently four variants of concern, Delta being one of them. As noted already, Delta is a spreading more easily in New Zealand compared with the original virus. Whereas an infected person last year, with the original virus might infect up to three other people, a person infected with Delta may infect six other people. You get the picture: one infected person infects six others, who infect six more and so on, so that without isolation, one case becomes six, then 36, then 216. This is why Delta is being referred to as a game changer, and it is likely to be part of the reason that the Auckland lockdown is going on for so long.

So why should we get vaccinated, especially if we are healthy? While most infections of the Covid-19 are mild, in about 20% of those infected the disease can be severe, resulting in hospitalisation, intensive care, and the possibility of death. For those who have been vaccinated twice, the Delta variant infection rate is reduced by 88%, and the risk of hospitalisation is reduced by 96%.

If your concern is the safety of the Pfizer vaccination, please make sure you get accurate information. The data I have is that over 5.4 billion doses of vaccine have been administered globally, a large proportion of which is the Pfizer vaccine. New Zealand is part of a global collaborative known as “the Global Vaccine Data Network” which collects data and monitors vaccine safety over 17 countries. There are ways that you can report adverse reactions to the vaccine by sending reports to the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARN), and their reports are publicly available. Most side effects are mild and short lived. The level of safety far outweighs the risks of side effects.

There is a plethora of information out there about the virus and the vaccines, such that it is difficult to navigate all the information and to work out what is correct and what is not. The Ministry of Health websites provide the most accurate data if you wish to read further and do your own research.

The Psalmist has this to say in praise of God: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps 139:14). Our immune system is a marvellous example of the way we are fearfully and wonderfully made. But we have to realise also that our bodies are mortal and are subject to disease. There are parts of the world that are so impoverished that the only option available is to pray when pandemics come along, but in New Zealand we are not in that position. We are able to make use of science and medicines, which is one of the ways that God answers are cry for healing. This is not a lack of trust or a lack of faith. It is part of God’s provisioning of gifts that God gives, and it provides an opportunity to be thankful for that provisioning.

Over the centuries, the Church has played a huge role in caring for the needy and relieving the pain and suffering of people with illness and disease. In many cases, that caring is done by Christians who have cared of others selflessly, taking on much personal risk to themselves as they care for others. Today many Christian health professionals, including scientists, doctors and nurses, psychologists, counsellors and social workers feel called by God to minister in this pandemic through the expertise of their profession. For that we give thanks and praise to God.

We are fortunate that in our western world, we have the technological resources to make our lives better. Just as Abraham was blessed to be a blessing to the world, so it is our task to share the blessing of medical research we have with those who do not have the resources. This is called distributive justice: we are called to share our resources so that we act as God’s agents for good in a broken world.

Throughout the New Testament, there is an emphasis on love. Jesus said, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Christianity is a communal religion. It is about community, our connectedness with each other, our recognition that what we do here in New Zealand can affect others globally – the pandemic being a close reminder of how interconnected we all are. The teaching of Jesus emphasises the inclusion of the poor, the oppressed, women and foreigners. The Parable of the Good Samaritan talks about using our resources for the benefit of others while also bearing the cost of doing so. The biblical vision is clear: we are called to share our resources, and that is to be extended to vaccines and medicines so that those in need can avoid suffering.

In promoting vaccine for the protection of our country, we are acting in line with the command of Jesus to love our neighbour. Most people in hospital with Covid19 are the unvaccinated. Adults can protect their children by being vaccinated.

So how can Christians and church communities help protect people during this pandemic?

• Make sure we share truthful information about vaccines. Be fully informed with factual information that is evidence based so that vaccination can be understood by all.
• Promote justice by using our influence to ensure the vaccine reaches all the corners of our society, and promote vaccine equity and access for everyone.
• Be witnesses of the care for others in our communities by considering the importance of life-saving benefit to all by being vaccinated, openly discussing ethical questions when asked, and assisting health officials during this pandemic.

As I speak this evening, I recognise there are many views on this topic, and we all have the God-given gift of freedom of choice, the right to decide whether or not to be vaccinated, and the right to not be judged for exercising that choice. The Anglican Church has always been a broad tent, holding many diverse views within our ranks. That reality is part of both the beauty of our Church and the reason it can be such a frustrating community to be part of. The gospel calls us to hold one another in our differences, so that we can be a school for learning how to love, how to embrace difference and diversity, even when we disagree. Above all, the gospel calls us to work for the safety and protection of all, especially the most vulnerable."

Click here for the InterChurch Bioethics Council paper that Dean Lawrence consulted in preparing this sermon.