“Of course,” [Evangelical Christian Laura Popham] said, she’s worried about contracting COVID-19.
But she’s more worried about a possible vaccine for it.
…
That’s a view shared by nearly one in five Americans, according to a recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll… .
Popham believes that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert on the administration’s coronavirus task force, is part of the “deep state” along with Bill Gates, another prominent villain of coronavirus conspiracy theorists. … Based on research she’s done online, Popham thinks it’s likely that the vaccine will include some sort of human tracking device.
“It will keep track of us,” she said. “Kind of like in the end days, as the Bible says, you’ll be numbered.”
…
She is, in fact, not out of the mainstream of the large segment of the American population whose views of current events are informed by the Bible, and who interpret every significant political and social development as a possible harbinger of the return of Jesus Christ. …
Some Christian scholars have recently sought to debunk attempts to link the coronavirus vaccine to the mark of the beast through detailed biblical analysis. But the general impulse among evangelicals is skepticism toward secular authority, including measures taken in the name of public health.
