Those people who have yet to be or have chosen not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 are advised not to attend church or other places of worship but they have not been banned outright.
This was decided in a meeting of representatives of the state government and religious leaders here today ahead of the planned reopening of places of worship from August 16.
Chief Secretary MS Rao said that the meeting was called to finalise standard operating procedures (SOPs) to reopen religious places and to permit wedding ceremonies to take place (also from August 16, though wedding receptions remain banned), as well as to seek support from all faith-based institutions for the state’s vaccination drive.
On the issue of the unvaccinated, Rao said, “It will be an advisory that it is better that only vaccinated people attend.” It was also suggested at the meeting that those under 18 years should not be allowed; at present only those 18 and above are eligible for the Covid vaccine.
Meanwhile, Rao expressed hope that the reopening of religious places would boost vaccine take-up.
As 90 percent of religious leaders, Rao said, are in favour of the jab, opening temples, churches and mosques will help in getting across the government’s message on the importance of being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Like so many other areas of life, religion has moved online but Rao said that spiritual leaders face limits in getting their message across this way and reaching out to the masses would be more accomplishable if the bricks and mortar buildings were opened to the public, even if attendance is still restricted to one-third capacity.
“So, we expect that this opening will also help the vaccination effort of the government,” the Chief Secretary said.
Services will be limited to one hour and churches will aim to increase the number of services in a day in order to allow more of the faithful to attend.
