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| (Daily Voice) |
It all started with ‘Patient Zero’. An individual from a foreign country that was infected with the Measles virus but was unaware of it - traveled to a community heavily populated with religious Jews, mostly Chasidim. Measles is very contagious. The virus can remain in the air and on surfaces for up to 2 hours – long after the infected individual has left. Patient Zero attended a wedding where hundreds of people were present. He mingled freely with them all, including dancing in a cramped space with many other attendees. A massive outbreak has followed.
So many people in these communities have been affected that places like Williamsburg, New Square, and Boro Park are considered the epicenter of the disease.
Why are these communities so vulnerable? Some of the blame goes to antivaxxers. Although the percentage of antivaxxers in those communities is relatively the same as it is in other communities – the fact is that more people living in those communities have been infected than in any other community.
There is a nationwide measles epidemic in 23 states! If the percentage of antivaxers is approximately the same in all areas of the country, why is the lion’s share of measles happening in the Chasidic areas of New York?
Obviously the antivaxxers are in part responsible for that. Just as they are in other states where Chasidim are not a factor. If enough people refuse to vaccinate their children there will be an increase in measles by people who did not vaccinate. The highly contagious nature of the disease combined with the long incubation period before symptoms appear, and the fact that the virus stays airborne for up to 2 hours is a prescription for the spread of the disease.
There are also people that cannot be vaccinated for legitimate reasons (e.g allergies to the vaccine or babies to young to vaccinate, cancer patients on chemo whose immune systems are compromised...). They are the most vulnerable. Among them are those where the danger is so great that serous and permanent health issues can develop. Even death!
So why are these mostly Chasidic areas of New York so much more vulnerable than people in other states?
I believe it the population density of those areas. When combined with antivaxxers we should not be surprised at these results. I think that is what happened – and is still happening. I’m surprised there aren't even more people infected with the measles. Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, a Bris, a Vort, synagogue attendance (especially on Shabbos), shopping in crowded supermarkets any day of the week, but especially close to Shabbos... all add up to a lot of exposure. A lot more people will get the disease and then pass it on to others geometrically.
At this point, I’m not even sure that getting 100% vaccination compliance would help that much. There are just too many people in those areas that have the disease right now, Many of whom don’t even realize it yet!,
What to do about this is beyond my pay grade. But one thing is certain, anyone healthy enough to be vaccinated that is not allergic to the vaccine, must get vaccinated. Unfortunately that is not going to happen. The antivaxxers do not want to be confused with the facts. They have made up their minds. Vaccines are worse than measles. End of conversation.
Meanwhile New York health officials have come up with a few ways to help reduce the spread of measles by requiring unaccented children to stay home – forbidding them entry into a school building! Those doing so are subject to stiff fine. Some schools that have violated this rule have been shut down. Other than that... what to do about it is anybody’s guess!
Which brings me to the antisemitism side of this issue. There are a lot of people that see reports about the epicenter of measles being in these communities and believe that religious Jews - especially Chasidim - don’t vaccinate their children. And they are therefore responsible for the spread of the disease. The truth is that they do vaccinate their children (except for the small number of antivaxxers). On the other hand the disease is spreading beyond the borders of those communities.
I’m having a hard time seeing antisemitism behind the fear of contracting measles from a community so heavily infected by the disease. I don’t really blame anyone from boycotting those areas – or establishments frequented by those residents.
The problem is in generalizing. Just because those communities of Chasidim are highly infected – does not mean Chasidim in other areas are infected. And yet it is sill understandable how a mistake like that can be made. I personally don’t see the fear of contracting measles from people that look like they come from a neighborhood heavily infected with measles as antisemitism. It is a fear of measles that they are against. Not the Chasidim themselves or their religious values.
This fear has caused many people to boycott all establishments that are frequented by Chasidim from those communities. Frankly, I wouldn’t set foot into a supermarket in Williamsburg or Boro Park right now if you paid me! Am I antisemitic?
On the other hand it might be antisemitic to see every single Chasidic Jew as a likely carrier of the disease, no matter what part of the country they are in. If Chasidic Jews in Chicago are boycotted for that reason ii that antisemitic? It might be because of the mistaken notion that Chasidim do not – as a religious principle – vaccinate. Is that kind of generalization antisemitic? Not sure.
That said there probably is some degree of antisemitism involved. Prejudice against difference is a fact of life. Chasidim look different. And that kind of prejudice is wrong and antisemitic. How much of this can be attributed to legitimate fear or antisemitism is a question, I’m not sure anyone can answer. The following video will shed some additional light on this issue.