The owner of Orlando and Cape Canaveral's Grills Seafood will impose weekly COVID-19 testing among his employees, following a mandate from the administration of President Joe Biden requiring employee vaccination or weekly testing for large employers. In a memo to employees announcing the move, owner Joe Penovich said he refuses to mandate vaccination because "God told me not to take this vaccine."
The memo was shared to Facebook by Penovich and reported on by Bungalower. Penovich said that all Christians should seek guidance from God before receiving the vaccine.
"The debate over effectiveness or complications of this vaccine carry little weight with me. I'm not sure any of us know the full truth," Penovich wrote. "But I do believe Christians can and should be getting direction from the God we profess to know, more than the news we choose to listen to."
Penovich said he would not mandate vaccination at any of his businesses, including Grills, Sunrise Marina or his fishing charter company.
Penovich said in the memo that he has lost friends and family to the virus, but trusts his faith to protect him.
"Many of our employees are vaccinated, many have chosen not to be," Penovich shared along with the memo. "God directed my personal decision about this."
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