Gloria Copeland, a member of President Donald Trump's evangelical executive advisory board, said people do not need flu shots in order to battle the illness. Instead, she claimed they should rely on the "word of God," according to The Hill.
Ms. Copeland co-founded Kenneth Copeland Ministries with her husband and has served on Mr. Trump's board since 2016.
"We don't have a flu season and don't receive it when somebody threatens you with 'everybody's getting the flu,'" Ms. Copeland said in a video posted online by Right Wing Watch, according to The Hill. "We've already had our shot: He bore our sicknesses and carried our diseases. That's what we stand on. And by his stripes, we were healed."
She added she is praying for every person with flu symptoms.
"I'm asking you lord, by your supernatural power, to heal them now from the top of their head to the soles of their feet ... Jesus himself gave us the flu shot. He redeemed us from the curse of flu," Ms. Copeland said.
This flu season has been one of the worst on record, and the CDC has repeatedly encouraged the public to get their flu shots. In fact, flu-related hospitalizations reached a 10-year high last week. However, Ms. Copeland seemingly disagrees.
"Just keep saying that: 'I'll never have the flu. I'll never have the flu.' Put words, inoculate yourself with the word of God. He himself bore my sicknesses, carried my diseases, and by his stripes I was healed. I am healed," Ms. Copeland added, according to The Hill.