Churches could be key to beating vaccine misinformation, resistance to perceived coercion by 'The Man' in Eastern Ky.

Pastor Lewis (Photo by Jessica Tezak for Kaiser Health News)

In rural Eastern Kentucky, keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed by Covid-19, the flu and other illnesses this winter may depend on rural churches helping vaccination campaigns, Sarah Varney reports for Kaiser Health News.

Varney writes mainly from "Leslie County, in the foothills of the rugged Pine Mountain ridge that anchors the state's eastern coalfield," where "public health workers are trying to outsmart the fantastical tales spread on Facebook about the Covid-19 vaccines, while also helping residents overcome the everyday hurdles of financial hardship and isolation."

The region matches what national polls show tend to be the most adamant anti-vaccine part of the U.S. population, citing "tends to be disproportionately white, rural, evangelical Christian and politically conservative," The New York Times reports.

"Local health agencies have been eager to enroll churches in the all-hands-on-deck vaccination effort," Varney reports. "Some church leaders have refrained from encouraging vaccination, afraid of offending congregants in a state where mistrust of government intrusion runs deep." But not Billy Joe Lewis, pastor of the Full Gospel Church of Jesus Christ on Cutshin Creek, which drains much of the county.

"We've still got to use common sense," Lewis told Varney. "Anything that can ward off suffering and death, I think, is a wonderful thing."

He has seen both. "In recent weeks, Lewis held a funeral service for a 53-year-old unvaccinated former coal miner, suspended Sunday services after more members fell ill and, with a heavy heart, canceled Homecoming — a cherished yearly gathering of area churches that marks the fall foliage with a celebration of the gospel and shared faith," Varney writes.

Another big obstacle to vaccination is "the specter of coercion" in a region "where government directives have been met with derision," Varney reports, quoting Louisa nursing-home owner David McKenzie: "We do not like to be shoved. We resent it, and we shove back."

"They're fearful of 'The Man'," McKenzie told Varney. "The Man could be your employer, it could be the government, it could be a newspaper reporter." And there's another kind of fear, Varney reports, paraphrasing and quoting McKenzie: "People who boasted about refusing the vaccines cannot change their minds, or 'They'll look like they're weak, or they caved to The Man'."