In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle's "It's All Political" podcast, Cordileone said he learned from his primary health physician that he has "a good immune system". He confided his personal physician had told him, "it's probably not necessary for me to be vaccinated."

Cordileone, who has been outspoken against abortion and same-sex marriage, also incorrectly said that the coronavirus inoculations "are not really vaccines."

"We think of a vaccine as a shot that gives you immunity to a disease for life or at least for a very long time. And these actually don't give any immunity at all. They give protection," Cordileone said in the interview.

"I'm stepping into another controversy, I guess," Cordileone, aged 65, told the Chronicle.

"He's just wrong. That's my first point. The second is that this bad, ill-informed advice that he's putting out there could lead to people dying unnecessarily. We just have to counter that with the truth," said Dr Philip Landrigan, director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College.

The archbishop's comments echo conservative scepticism about the COVID-19 vaccines often amplified in right-wing media. It also sharply contradicts guidance from Pope Francis. Last summer, the pontiff urged people to get vaccinated and has expressed exasperation with anti-vaccine sceptics.

Cordileone told the Chronicle that he is "not an anti-vaxxer". In a statement provided to NCR, the archbishop said he previously advised people to consult their physicians when he joined California's other Catholic bishops in urging people to get vaccinated.

"It is also important to make that decision based on as complete and accurate scientific information as one can obtain," Cordileone said in the statement. "That is what I have done in my own case. It is always a very personal decision."

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

Religion News Service

CathNews

Bishop James Foley this morning said that people within his church were "campaigning against vaccination on all sorts of ill-founded prejudice".

Among the misinformation Bishop Foley said he had received were claims coronavirus vaccines contained cells from unborn fetuses — erroneous information he said he had no time for.

"In almost 30 years in this position, I've never encountered such divisiveness and, dare I say, ignorance," Bishop Foley said.

"I'm really concluding that I'm wasting my time talking to them and they're wasting their time talking to me."

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Maori and Pacific health executive director Hector Matthews made his views clear at a hui discussing Maori vaccination efforts.

The hui in Otautahi (Christchurch) included Maori health agencies, the Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare and other government officials on Tuesday.

Matthews said some mainstream churches were causing problems in trying to get Maori vaccinated.

"The Brian Tamaki crowd and his whanau who walk around saying God's going to protect you are a real problem for us."

Tamaki is sending a "very dangerous message" that could lead to people dying or ending up in intensive care units, Matthews said. People in high profile leadership positions - like anti-vax church leaders - who are spreading those messages made it "really hard" for providers to get vaccinations to those congregations.

"These are whanau that need our help," he said

Matthews says he is "deeply concerned" rates of vaccination in Maori and Pasifika communities was being hindered by misinformation that was spread on social media and via faith-based groups.

"This is the 21st century, and we live in the age of reason and of science ...You can have an opinion about lots of things, but you can't have an opinion about this virus," he told Stuff media.

To illustrate his point, he said if a pilot of a plane told passengers landing in Wellington seemed unsafe, they wouldn't question the pilot's judgement. For the same reason, people shouldn't be questioning the expertise and advice provided by scientists and health experts.

"We should be supporting them to keep our communities safe," he stressed.

He told the hui "we need to front up to misinformation".

People who did not speak out when they heard untruths were implicit in misinformation continuing, he pointed out.

He suggested a gentle approach is needed with people who are victims of misinformation.

"This is not new. We have to clear the fog for a lot of whanau."

If treated with mana, and spoken to with "dignity and humility", most peoplem would come around to protecting their whanau, he said.

Getting everyone vaccinated isn't about taking away people's right to choose, he said.

People were entitled to make individual decisions, "but individual decisions when it comes to infectious disease affect all of us".

"Let's protect our community and protect our whakapapa," he urged.

Source

• Stuff
• Image: YouTube

Leilani Lutali, a born-again Christian, went with her faith.

Even though she has stage 5 kidney disease that puts her at risk of dying without a new kidney, Lutali, 56, said she could not agree to be vaccinated because of the role that stem cells have played in the development of vaccines.

"As a Christian, I can't support anything that has to do with abortion of babies, and the sanctity of life for me is precious," she said.

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