Despite news of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in the US and predictions of a surge to hit NC over the next few weeks, St. John's will continue with our plans to hold in-person worship services as previously publicized on Christmas Eve at 4 PM, 5:30 PM, and 8:30 PM. Livestreams of both our 4 PM (all ages) and 8:30 PM (traditional) services will be available on Zoom and YouTube.
However, we ask each to parishioner and guest to seriously consider the following facts and questions as you decide how to paricipate in worship with St. John's (in-person or online) or join in any other gathering with those outside your immediate household this holiday season.
FACTS
- Multiple studies now show that if you are fully vaccinated and boosted, you are likely 70-80% (or more) protected from severe illness, hospitalization, or death from known variants of Covid.
- Seniors, immuno-compromised persons, those with certain co-morbidities, and the unvaccinated are far more vulnerable to serious illness, hospitalization, and death.
- Omicron appears to be far more contagious than earlier variants (infections are now doubling every day in NC and 90% of new infections are from Omicron); but there is conflicting evidence as to whether it causes milder or equally severe disease compared to earlier variants.
- Even if you are personally likely to survive the disease, if you are infected you may unwittingly spread it to someone else who will not.
- Any larger gathering of people at this moment has the potential to increase the spread of the this variant and contribute to overwhelming our local health care system.
- N95 or similar quality filtration masks are more effective at stopping the spread of the virus than cloth masks. (Masks are required at all St. John's services whether you are vaccinated or not.)
- Our bishops have not required us to cancel our services at this point, but they strongly urge us to double down on our protocols and urge parishioners to consider using the highest quality masks and utilizing testing opportunities as able.
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- Our bishops are considering a mandate for livestream-only services during January given the predictions of an Omicron surge over the next several weeks.
CONSIDER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES &
RISK TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS
If you answer YES to any of the following questions, we ask you to forego in-person worship for the next couple of weeks and join us via livestream instead:
- Do you plan to spend time with any unvaccinated persons between Christmas Eve and New Years Day, children under 5, seniors (70 and older), or anyone with medical vulnerabilities?
- Are you less than fully vaccinated at this moment? (FYI: You are not fully vaccinated at this moment if you have not received BOTH a first vaccination regimen AND a booster shot if your last vaccine shot was six months ago or more. You also must be two weeks past your last shot to be considered fully vaccinated.)
- Even if you are fully vaccinated, are you in a high risk group for serious illness due to Covid?
If you choose to attend worship in-person at St. John's, for the sake of others and for yourself, we strongly encourage you to:
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STAY HOME if you have ANY of the following symptoms:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Purchase a filtration mask (N95, KN95 or similar grade) or a surgical mask for use at church and at other gatherings with persons outside of your immediate household. If you cannot obtain a high quality filtration mask, please consider double-masking with cloth masks.
If possible, purchase rapid at-home tests and test everyone before attending worship or gathering with others outside your home, especially if you have been in close proximity to others outside of your household within the last 5-7 days.
CHANGING YOUR RESERVATION FOR
IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE
In order to create as much social distance as possible among those attending in-person on Christmas Eve and over the next few weeks, it is important to have an accurate list of attendees ahead of time.
If you have registered to attend in-person, but now would like to "un-register" and view the livestream at home instead, please email Mo. Sarah at rector@stjohnswf.com or leave her a message at 919-556-3656 to let us know.
