Will vaccine refusal affect hospitals?

PROF CHANG: Hello, I'm Curtis Chang. I'm a theologian and former pastor. And we here at Redeeming Babel have produced a series of videos to help Christians think about the vaccine. And one of the ways that God helps Christians think, is through trusted leaders in our faith community. And one such leader is Bishop Scott Jones. Bishop Jones is currently resident Bishop of the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. And as a faith leader, he's also deeply connected to the healthcare system as he serves on the board of trustees for the Houston Methodist Hospital system. Bishop Jones, thank you so much for joining us.

BISHOP JONES: My pleasure, Curtis. It's great to be with you.

PROF CHANG: Bishop Jones we asked this standard question for all our guests, which is, have you taken the vaccine?

BISHOP JONES: Absolutely. I took it as early as I possibly could.

PROF CHANG: And you also sit on the board of a major hospital system, Houston Methodist. Why does a clergy leader like yourself care about how well a hospital runs?

BOSHOP JONES: Jesus had a ministry, not only proclaiming the reign of God, but also of healing people in body, mind and soul so that the ministry of physical healing as part of the church's outreach, Methodists settled on, started this hospital during the flu epidemic in 1919 and we are continuing to serve the healthcare needs of the greater Houston area today. We are a faith based hospital with a cross and flame on the outside of the building and a statue of Jesus healing a woman in the main lobby. It's a Christian hospital that doesn't discriminate but it is clearly based on our faith.

PROF CHANG: That's great to hear. And so, tell us how does the COVID virus unchecked, if it's not stopped by something like the vaccine, How does that affect how a hospital is able to care for its community?

BISHOP JONES: The great concern during the surges here in Houston has been that the resources of the hospital would be so devoted to COVID patients, they couldn't take care of heart attacks and lung transplants and other things. And so by getting people to behave well with social distancing and masking and eventually the vaccine, we've gotten the virus under control and our hospitals can deal with the other things as well.

PROF CHANG: And what was it like when the vaccine wasn't there and COVID virus was replicating, unchecked? How did that affect the hospital functioning?

BISHOP JONES: Houston Methodist hospital diverted some floors away from their normal function to turn them into ICU units for COVID patients. And we slowed down because all of our staff had to protect themselves. And then also visitors and even pastors couldn't go into the hospital to visit. In other words, it was a great disruption to our normal ministry of healing people.

PROF CHANG: You're close to working with a lot of doctors. And I wanted to ask you, how do doctors feel about the COVID vaccine? Because I think a lot of people are gonna take their cues from medical experts on whether or not the vaccine is safe and effective for themselves. So how do your doctors feel about the COVID vaccine?

BISHOP JONES: Houston Methodist was one of the first medical institutions in America to require that all of its employees be vaccinated as a condition of their employment. Our medical staff has their own governance, their own leadership that they elect and they responded unanimously to that decision made by hospital management. So, our doctors are fully supportive of getting the vaccine and encouraging everybody else to do so. Interestingly enough, some of our doctors who are of ethnic minority groups, Asians, African-Americans, Latinos, they have been going public on videos and other media to try to make sure that their communities heard from people like them that getting the vaccine is an important step.

PROF CHANG: Bishop Jones, in addition to your work with hospitals, you also are very involved in missions work overseas, especially to Southeast Asia. I wanted to ask you to comment on what's happening in India right now with the COVID outbreaks there. And what does that say about the need for vaccination?

BISHOP JONES: We know that government support for battling COVID and getting vaccines delivered to the people is vitally important. From all I read, the government of India did a good job earlier in the year and then they sort of lost their focus and now we have this incredible surge with just devastating results in India. I am deeply concerned that the United States government and our pharmaceutical companies ought to be taking the lead and making the vaccine as easily and cheaply available in all countries of the world as possible. I am Bishop in Laos, which I supervise the missionaries who work there. They're not getting the vaccine yet. And so, I'm very eager for the United States now that we've sort of delivered to a lot of our people, let's get behind places like India and Laos and Africa and make it available to those people as well. Houston is the most diverse city in America. 25% of our residents were born outside the United States. And what I know is that Indian residents of Houston are concerned about their family members in India, but also there's been travel back and forth from other countries here. And we're not gonna be safe in America until the Brazilians and the Indians and the Africans are all vaccinated as well.

PROF CHANG: So Bishop Jones, let's bring it back home now to clergy here in America. What advice would you give to those clergy who are trying to figure out, how to shepherd their congregations on this decision about the vaccine.

BISHOP JONES: We United Methodists, like many other Christians, believe that God has not only revealed truth in scripture but that God uses smart people and the force of science to determine what's really possible and to achieve God's goals for the world. And so, for us as United Methodists who believe both in the authority of scripture and the power of human reason, we need to pay attention to science and share that information and say, we Christians believe in what scientists are discovering about how to battle disease and how to treat it. Yes, I pray for healing for people who are sick, but I also trust the science of the doctors. And I think when trusted religious voices can help people accept that the vaccine is a good and godly thing to do, that helps reach people who might not trust it from other voices in the community.

PROF CHANG: Well, Bishop Jones, thank you so much for bringing so much wisdom and insight around the vaccine, hospitals, the foreigners condition. Thank you so much for being with us today.

BISHOP JONES: My pleasure. It's great to talk with you, Curtis.