This year, Josephite Father Cornelius Kelechi Ejiogu had an Easter to remember. Two hours before the pastor of St. Luke Catholic Church in Southeast Washington, D.C., celebrated the 7 p.m. Easter Vigil on April 3, he received the second dose of his Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
“To begin the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection with the vaccine, it’s symbolic to me,” the priest said, explaining he considered the vaccination as a “new opportunity to begin a new normalcy,” for himself and the parish community he serves.
This past year, his parish and that part of the city have been especially hard hit by the impact of the pandemic. The priest said they lost about 20 parishioners to COVID-19, and many parishioners lost their jobs, including some who used to work in restaurants that closed during the shutdown.
“So many parishioners contracted COVID-19, and thank goodness they recovered,” he said.
Father Ejiogu noted that people at St. Luke’s Parish also missed coming together for Masses and social activities there during these past months, as limited numbers returned to Mass and others watched the Masses via livestream.
“The church is where they not only come for spiritual gathering, but where they come to socialize,” he said. The priest added, “We needed to come back to Communion, to come back to church as the body of Christ, to come back to social life (here).”
So 25 days after the Easter Vigil, St. Luke hosted a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at its church parking lot on April 28, as part of DC Health’s “Faith in the Vaccine” initiative.
“It is a work of faith for us,” St. Luke’s pastor said of the effort.
The priest noted that in the early days of the pandemic, they had prayed that God would bring healing. Then after the vaccines were developed and made available to people, he encouraged his parishioners to get vaccinated, not only for their own sake, but for the safety of others, and as a way “to do something for the good of humanity.”
“We asked and God has given us this opportunity,” he said. “…I saw this as a response in faith to God’s call, for us to trust Him, even in times of pandemic.”
And explaining why it was important for St. Luke’s Parish to host the vaccination clinic, he said, “Statistics show people in my neighborhood, Ward 7, are some of the least vaccinated in the District of Columbia. My effort has been to make the vaccine readily available to people in my ward.”
He noted that the sign-up process had been complicated for senior citizens in his parish, and some people in the neighborhood don’t have good Internet service.
In addition to offering a spiritual haven and a social meeting place for his parishioners, St. Luke has opened its doors to community groups like Alcoholics Anonymous.
“They’ve always seen St. Luke’s as a trusted place,” Father Ejiogu said, explaining the rationale for hosting a vaccination clinic there.
Kimberly Henderson, the director of the Office of Communications and Community Relations for DC Health, noted that the “Faith in the Vaccine” initiative began in the District of Columbia in late January, and so far local faith groups have hosted 30 clinics, where 4,500 D.C. residents have received vaccinations. A key goal has been to help ensure equitable distribution of the vaccines throughout the city, especially in Wards 5, 7 and 8 that have had high mortality rates from COVID-19, she said.
“It’s important, because it provides another opportunity for residents to feel comfortable and safe and come to a place they know to receive the vaccine,” said Henderson.
The Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Northwest Washington, D.C., hosted its first vaccination clinic on April 14, distributing vaccines to 420 people that day, and also hosting clinics on Aril 17, 22 and 24. Sixty-two people were vaccinated at the clinic hosted by St. Luke Church on April 28, and organizers hoped the next day’s clinic would have a higher turnout on a day when the parish’s food bank would be serving people in the neighborhood.
Other local congregations or faith groups in the city hosting clinics as part of D.C.’s “Faith in the Vaccine” initiative include Emory United Methodist Church, Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, New Samaritan Baptist Church, Temple of Praise, Allen Chapel A.M.E., and Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church. The Masjid Muhammad Mosque in Washington is scheduled to host vaccination clinics on May 7 and 8.
According to the District of Columbia’s website at coronavirus.dc.gov, as of April 26:
- 490,911 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the District of Columbia
- 237,354 D.C. residents have been partially or fully vaccinated, representing 33.6 percent of the District’s population
On Saturday May 1, the District will transition to the use of 11 high-capacity, walk-up, no appointments needed vaccination sites for first doses of vaccines. Those sites include Arena Stage at 1101 6th Street, S.W.; Providence Health System at 1150 Varnum Street, N.E.; and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center at 801 Mount Vernon Place, N.W. On May 1 only, vaccinations will also be given at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, 1100 Oak Street, S.E., home to the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. Days, hours and available vaccines are listed on vaccinefinder.org.
D.C. residents 16 and 17 years old can get vaccinated through Children’s National Hospital, and people can register at childrensnational.org .
In separate programs, more than 10 Catholic parishes in Prince George’s County and Montgomery County have held or are planning vaccination clinics, including St. Matthias the Apostle Catholic Church in Lanham on April 30, where people pre-registered through the parish office. St. Rose of Lima Parish at 11701 Clopper Road in Gaithersburg is hosting a walk-up vaccine clinic where 300 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday May 2 on a first come, first served basis, no appointment, insurance or ID necessary.
Among the parishioners of St. Luke’s Catholic Church receiving their vaccination on April 28 was Caprice Casson, who also volunteered as a coordinator for that day’s event and who is active in serving the Ward 7 community. Her 60-year-old father, Dawaine Owens, also received his first vaccine dose that morning.
“This is my entire family church, from my great grandmother on up,” said Casson, a lifelong parishioner who noted she was baptized there and raised her two children there.
She noted that receiving the COVID-19 vaccine would help her “to get back to normal… I can go back and do what I do. I work with children. I’m a track coach and Girl Scout leader.”
Rita Brown-Hall, another St. Luke’s parishioner, was already vaccinated but was volunteering at the clinic that morning.
“If I can help in any way to save a life, that’s a beautiful thing,” she said.
Since last March when the coronavirus shutdown began, Brown-Hall, a breast cancer survivor who works as a childcare provider and substitute teacher, has been unable to do that work.
Also helping out that morning was Natalie Greene, a member of St. Luke’s Parish who works for the U.S. Census Bureau and serves with a community group, the East River Family Strengthening Collaborative, Inc. “This is what God has called us to do, on the ground,” said Greene, who like several other of the parish volunteers has already been vaccinated.
Irwin Royster, East River’s director for community engagement and partnerships, praised the parish for hosting the clinic. “This is wonderful. We need more places accessible to community members,” he said.
Hope Brown, another lifelong St. Luke’s parishioner who is retired after a career working for the federal government in the General Services Administration, had also already been vaccinated, but she drove her 87-year-0ld aunt, Wonda Sapp, to the vaccination clinic.
Sapp, who was able to sit in her niece’s vehicle while she received her vaccination, said receiving the shot meant a lot to her. “It will enable me to go places I haven’t since this virus came out,” she said.
A few feet away in the parking lot, Shirley Graham, who is 86 and has been a member of St. Luke’s Parish for more than six decades, sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep Cherokee driven there by her daughter, Yvetta Cephas.
“I’m very excited about coming today,” Graham said.
Cephas said trying to sign up her mother for the vaccination had been challenging, and so when they heard that St. Luke’s Parish would be hosting the vaccination clinic, they were among the first people to arrive that morning. As they patiently waited for Graham to receive the vaccination, Cephas expressed appreciation for “the fact she didn’t have to go and stand in line, which she can’t do, and the fact the church offered it.”
Shirley Graham, wearing a ballcap and sunglasses, received her vaccination as she sat in the Jeep’s passenger seat. Afterward, she said, “I feel good. I feel very happy. I got mine! I’ve been included with the rest.”
Moments later, Father Ejiogu smiled when he heard about Graham’s reaction to her vaccination.
“That’s what this program is all about, making sure the most vulnerable get an opportunity for safety and an opportunity to feel free,” the priest said, adding, “After all, we are all brothers and sisters in one big family. That’s why we’re doing this, (so) no one is left behind.”
