Faith leaders, faith communities, and medical professionals are leading efforts to respond and recover from the unprecedented health crises facing our nation and the world. Now, equipped with a life-saving vaccine, we have the chance to bring this devastating, and all the suffering it has caused, to an end.

The National Council of Churches has been part of a Jewish, Christian, and Muslim coalition called Faiths4Vaccines for the past several months. Among their goals is helping houses of worship become vaccination sites by connecting them with partners such as local and state health departments and/or pharmacies.

Faiths4Vaccines has held frequent meetings with the White House. All of this has led to plans for a National Summit next week. Invited are President Biden, and expected to participate are a number of administration leaders including Dr. Frances Collins of the National Institutes for Health and Dr. Fauci.

Faith leaders and faith-based organizations in attendance will receive training, resources and empowerment to engage their communities to ensure equitable vaccine access, combat hesitancy and potentially use their houses of worship as vaccination sites.

Now is the time to partake in open and honest dialogue between faith leaders and county, state and national health officials to identify opportunities for faith-based institutions to further engage and support local communities to increase vaccination rates.