Pete Buttigieg to evangelical vaccine hold-outs: Maybe it’s part of God’s plan


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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday that faith-minded people who say they don’t plan to get a coronavirus vaccine should consider that the shots could be part of God’s plan for their well-being.

Mr. Buttigieg had been asked about a recent poll showing nearly 3 in 10 White evangelical Christians say they definitely will not get vaccinated.

“Sometimes I’ve heard people — people I care about — saying, ‘If I’m faithful, God’s going to take care of me,’” Mr. Buttigieg said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I guess what I would hope they might consider is that maybe a vaccine is part of God’s plan for how you’re going to take care of yourself.”

Mr. Buttigieg was open about his Christian faith during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary contest, but said that faith leaders — and not an official in a Democratic administration — would probably be better messengers on such issues.

“In the end, I have to admit that it’s unlikely that an official like me is going to be persuasive to somebody who maybe doesn’t feel like Washington’s been speaking to them for a long time,” he said.

Mr. Buttigieg also echoed the White House in saying there are no plans for the government to craft a “vaccine passport” or some form of proof of vaccination as a pre-requisite to board a domestic flight.

“We don’t view this as the role of the government to create or mandate any kind of vaccine passport,” he said. “But these technologies are there, [the] private sector is working on them and we’re interested in following that and providing any kind of technical advice or support where needed.”

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