Vaccines and vaccination Contents Introduction 1 Why this resource? 2

Why should the church get involved? The church is the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). [...] The scientist set out facts on the vaccines and, together with the theologian, helped the church leaders to understand that the common myths about the vaccine were untrue. [...] The denominational leaders agreed next steps which included: ● developing an agreed statement on the Covid-19 vaccines, aiming to reach senior church leaders in the provinces to address common vaccine myths at a local level ● holding EFZ-facilitated conversations between church leaders and the Minister of Health to enable the church to influence the government’s Covid-19 vaccination plans. [...] In addition to Jesus, some of the most obvious advocates in the Bible are: ● Moses and Aaron, who were sent by God to ask Pharoah to release the Israelites from slavery ● Nehemiah, who confronted Jews in positions of power who were treating vulnerable people unjustly (Nehemiah 5:1–13) ● Esther, who advocated before the king to save her ethnic group from mass murder. [...] Acknowledgements Thank you to the following groups of people in Tearfund who helped shape the structure and content of this resource through the initial consultation process and feedback on drafts: Cluster Leads, Country Directors in the Latin America & Carribean Cluster and East & Central Africa Cluster, the Thematic Support team (especially the Church & Development Unit, the Gender & Protection.