Seven pastors and their wives joined Athens City Councilman Frank Travis on Monday to showcase the simplicity of the vaccination process and to encourage others in the Black community to get vaccinated, too.

Each pastor was from a different church in Limestone County and a member of the Limestone Ministerial Coalition. The Rev. Eugene English said there had been concern that not enough Black seniors and eligible residents were signing up for appointments, which is extra concerning given how much worse the virus has been in minority communities.

The group each scheduled their shots for between 8 and 9 a.m. Monday morning at Athens-Limestone Hospital’s community vaccine clinic at Emmanuel Baptist Church. The pastors took photos of themselves receiving the vaccine, which were then shared to their churches’ social media pages to further share how vital it is for congregants to also be vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.

“This is an answer to a prayer, that the vaccine was discovered and got out in record time,” Travis said as he waited to get his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “… We’ve been praying to ask God to provide a means to get through this and protect us from this disease, and then he gives us these tools. We’ve got to know that it’s OK to use them.”

Travis said his wife received her first dose a few weeks ago and he wasn’t nervous at all as he filled out the necessary paperwork and made his way to a nurse for his own shot.

“I’ve been looking forward to it,” he said.

English also noted how easy the process was. Appointments for ALH’s clinic must be scheduled in advance by emailing schedule@alhnet.org or visiting athenslimestonehospital.com to fill out an appointment request form.

“They’re very organized,” English said of his morning at the clinic. “You come right through the line, they have you fill out a form and run you straight through to a table where you can get vaccinated.”

Like Travis, he wasn’t nervous about getting the shot, which he noted was painless. For English, what remains more important is avoiding getting sick with COVID-19 a second time and getting his church, Little Elk Missionary Baptist, back to in-person services.

“My church has been out for a long time,” English said. “We will be very excited to get back together.”

He pleaded for everyone, regardless of church attendance, to get vaccinated once eligible.

“Guys, let’s get vaccinated. We want to get back into our churches. We want to get back into our family reunions. We want to get back to our family gatherings,” he said. “This is the method. This is the plan. This is the idea, and I think it’s a very good idea for everyone to get vaccinated.”

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, four other providers have joined ALH in distributing vaccines to eligible residents in Limestone County: the Limestone County Health Department, Waddell Center Family Medicine, Athens Primary Care Associates, Med West Clinic and West Limestone Family Care.