COVID-19 Guidance: Faith-Based Organizations

Last updated: October 11, 2022

Vaccine Information for Faith-based Organizations

The COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to protect your faith-based organization from the risks of COVID-19. It is safe and highly effective at reducing virus spread and protecting against serious illness.

Faith leaders can help encourage vaccination by creating a supportive environment that makes it easier for their community members to get vaccinated, and by providing information from trusted sources. See the following resources for more information:

Vaccine resources

Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccination in Faith-based Communities

About COVID-19

COVID-19 is a viral infection that mainly affects the lungs, but it can also cause damage to other organs. Some people can get very sick with COVID-19 and may require hospitalization or get long-lasting symptoms including feeling tired, trouble breathing, trouble concentrating or muscle aches. Learn more about COVID-19 and how it spreads.

Benefits of Vaccination

As we learn to live with COVID-19, it is still important to reduce virus spread as much as possible.

Staying up-to-date with vaccination, including any booster dose(s) when eligible, lowers the risk of getting, spreading and becoming seriously sick with COVID-19. It also helps protect people who are elderly, have weak immune systems and those that cannot be vaccinated. Vaccination can also help increase the comfort level of congregation members that participate in in-person activities.

Steps to Encourage COVID-19 Vaccination

Trusted community leaders who share accurate information can make a difference in promoting COVID-19 vaccines. Encourage your congregation members, workers and volunteers to get vaccinated, including any booster dose(s), with a few simple steps:

1. Develop a workplace vaccination policy

- A workplace vaccination policy is strongly recommended to encourage and support all those who work and volunteer at the faith organization to get vaccinated

2. Lead by example

- Share your support for COVID-19 vaccination at your place of worship
- Share your personal experience of getting vaccinated
- Share stories of why people in your community got vaccinated

3. Build trust

- Listen and acknowledge people’s concerns without judgement, as hesitancy may be rooted in historical abuse, racism, and/or marginalization
- Explore reasons for not getting vaccinated with open-ended questions

4. Promote the benefits of vaccination

- To protect our health and our vulnerable members
- To more safely visit family and friends
- To more safely participate in faith-based activities

5. Share accurate information

- Provide COVID-19 vaccine resources to community members
- Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines using credible sources so that you can answer basic questions. See: COVID-19: About the Vaccines
- For more complex questions, encourage community members to make use of existing information services such as:
  - SHN VaxFacts Clinic
  - Sick Kids COVID-19 Consult Service
  - Toronto Public Health COVID-19 Hotline – 416-338-7600
  - Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre – 1-833-943-3900

6. Reduce barriers

- Host an online vaccine information session for your community, led by Toronto Public Health nurses. Fill out this form to request a session
- Host an onsite vaccine clinic with support from Toronto Public Health. Complete this intake form to request a clinic
- Recruit champions to help people find vaccine information or vaccine clinics
- Promote nearby vaccination clinics and help arrange transportation, if necessary

7. Engage tenants (if applicable)

- If your place of worship has tenants, encourage and support them to stay up-to-date with their vaccines, including booster dose(s)
- Encourage tenants to participate in your vaccine engagement activities

Infection Prevention and Control and Safety Measures

You can find general guidance to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and respiratory viruses in your place of worship at: COVID-19 Guidance: Employers, Businesses & Organizations