Bishop T.D. Jakes Hosts Dr. Fauci And Experts To Combat COVID-19 Misinformation
T.D. Jakes, co-host Jill Waggoner and panelists. Photo from YouTube livestream.
NEW YORK — The COVID-19 vaccine is one of the greatest subjects of confusion — and misinformation — in the U.S.
Studies show that there are certain political and ethnic groups that carry anti-vaccine sentiment, including Black and Hispanic Americans and what the researchers label “those who strongly embrace Christian nationalism.” Throughout 2020, evangelical churches and groups made headlines for defying government-regulated COVID-19 guidelines.
“Being a pastor means that you’re a truth-teller,” said megachurch pastor John MacArthur at a Q Ideas forum in September. “That means you protect people from deception that comes from the world.”
MacArthur’s church had been meeting in person despite state prohibitions. He and others believed the government was being hypocritical in its regulations and often expressed doubt about the severity of the virus. Similarly, doubts about both the virus and vaccine stem from a distrust of science or news media.
Read more: COVID-19 Is Fueling A New Jesus Movement
To combat this misinformation and discuss public questions about the vaccine, Bishop T.D. Jakes hosted the latest in his “Conversations with America” series at his Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House with top experts and health officials on Jan. 25.
Jakes hosted with Jill Waggoner, a Dallas-based family medicine practitioner. Panelists included Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, who leads the team of scientists behind the Moderna Inc. COVID-19 vaccine, and Dr. Onyema Ogbuagu, the principal investigator of the Pfizer COVID-19 trial at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation.
The YouTube livestream was viewed by over 2,000 viewers.
Panelists addressed the concern of those with pre-existing conditions, and Ogbuagu advised that they be more cautious and continue to care for their underlying conditions with the proper medicine. They advised against some of the popular COVID-19 “home remedies” — such as eating onions — but said that the most important things are rest, a good diet and preventing vitamin deficiencies.
Dr. Fauci explained the importance of even the vaccinated continuing to wear a mask. It’s possible that the vaccine isn’t successful, he says, and people can still be infected but asymptomatic. So masks are necessary for the same reasons as always. The Moderna vaccine is shown to be 94% effective two weeks after the second dose, and the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective two weeks after the second dose. There is not enough evidence about whether or not the vaccines completely prevent transmission of COVID-19, according to the CDC.
Jakes cited a study from Pew Research Center in December 2020 that says only 42% of Black Americans would get the vaccine, significantly lower than other ethnic groups in the U.S. He asked as a result about racial diversity in vaccine clinical trials.
“Every Saturday at 10 o’clock we would meet with the leaders of the [Moderna] trial to encourage them to go the extra mile to get minorities involved in the trial,” Fauci said.
It’s important to strive for racial diversity not only because Black Americans are more likely to be skeptical, but because they’re more likely to contract COVID-19. Ultimately, the Moderna trial reported 9.7% of its participants were African American.
Much of the panel was geared toward relieving common fears of the public: Fauci emphasized that “immune-building responses” like headaches or small fevers are good signs, and Corbett added that this vaccine can’t give recipients COVID-19 while discussing the RNA material it contains. They debunked popular conspiracies that the vaccine can alter DNA or reduce fertility.
“I find that people’s inquiries around the vaccine are fairly specific to their own personal story, to their own personal community,” Corbett said of her duty to spread correct information about the vaccine. “The more you listen, the more you can gauge what needs to be said.”
Comments were mixed during the livestream, as many expressed pervasive views that the vaccine was “evil” or harmful. One user, whose screen name read “faith lives,” condemned the presence of “Dr. Fauci the Devil” in a comment.
“Jesus is the Healer vaccines aren’t the answer,” read the comment from Edward Thornton.
But many seemed appreciative of the information presented in the session.
“I feel better about taking the vaccine now,” Minister Laurie Johnson-Brown commented at the end of the livestream. “A little better.”
Some have expressed worry about mutating strands of the virus which began emerging in the U.K. Fauci says the vaccine is shown to protect against these strains as well — better than natural immunity would.
“It looks good for now, but we want to make sure we keep following it very, very carefully,” he said. He predicts and hopes that the U.S. will have achieved herd immunity by the end of the summer.
Jakes, with a concern for rolling out the vaccine to lesser-populated communities with fewer resources, suggested using churches as a resource and location for vaccines to be administered by medical professionals.
Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.