Destiny World Church to hold COVID-19 vaccine clinic, delays reopening

Destiny World Church is hosting free COVID-19 vaccine events for the community on Saturday and on Oct. 9 on its Austell campus.

The event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, is in partnership with the 100 Black Men of North Metro Atlanta and Walgreens. Appointments are not necessary, but people are asked to bring identification.

“We are partnering with 100 Black Men and Walgreens because the health, vitality and stability of our community is at risk,” the Rev. Wilbur T. Purvis III, lead pastor, said in a statement. “Someone wisely said, ‘When America has a cold, Black America has pneumonia.’ COVID has disproportionately affected Black and brown communities. We are doing our part to slam the door on suspicion regarding the vaccine and open the door that leads to getting back to healthy living for all.”

The church is located at 7400 Factory Shoals Road, Austell.

It is also delaying the reopening of the sanctuary for in-person worship. Destiny World Church was scheduled to open on Sunday. A new date has not been set, but Destiny World Church will continue to stream its services online.

Several churches in the metro area are delaying reopening and offering other alternatives, such as livestreaming, as COVID cases rise. The majority of the people who are hospitalized or who have died were unvaccinated. The surge has filled ICU beds and stretched health care workers to the limit.

Just recently, Grady Memorial Hospital announced it was canceling all “nonessential” outpatient surgeries and procedures to deal with the increase in patients sick with the virus.