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A28 u.s. news
Diamars 29 Juni 2021

Amish put faith in God's will and herd immunity over vaccine

the clinic’s administrator. But when non-Amish neigh-
bors and local elected officials
“Most of them listen and are began pushing back against
respectful, but you can tell state and federal mandates,
before you’re finished that they resumed the gatherings,
they’ve already made up their he said. What followed was a
mind,” he said. surge of outbreaks last sum-
mer, Nolt said.
The clinic, he said, hardly
sees any virus cases now after Most now say they have al-
dealing with as many as five a ready had the virus and don’t
day last fall. “I would suspect see a need to get vaccinated,
we’ve gained some kind of said Mark Raber, who is
immunity. I know that’s up Amish and a member of a
for debate, but I think that’s settlement in Daviess Coun-
why we’re seeing only a spat- ty, Indiana, which has one of
tering right now,” Hoover the state’s lowest vaccination
said. rates.

Relying on possible herd im- “As long as everything stays
munity when little testing has the same, I don’t think I’ll get
taken place among the Amish it,” he said.
is risky, said Esther Chernak,
director of the Center for Changing those opinions will
Public Health Readiness and require building trusting re-
(AP) - When health care for preventable diseases such it from their English neigh- Communication at Drexel lationships with the Amish,
leaders in the heart of as measles and whooping bors,” said Donald Kraybill, a University in Philadelphia. the Centers for Disease Con-
Pennsylvania Dutch cough. Though vaccine ac- leading expert on the Amish. trol and Prevention said in a
country began laying out ceptance varies by church “In many ways, they are sim- “It’s not a community living report looking at outbreaks in
a strategy to distribute district, the Amish often rely ply reflecting rural America on an island, not interacting those communities last year.
COVID-19 vaccines, they on family tradition and ad- and the same attitudes.” with other people,” she said.
knew it would be a tough vice from church leaders, and “They don’t have zero inter- What won’t work, health care
sell with the Amish, who a core part of their Christian In one case, an anti-vaccine action with the outside world, providers say, is bombarding
tend to be wary of preven- faith is accepting God’s will group took out a full-page so they’re still exposed.” the Amish with statistics and
tive shots and government in times of illness or death. newspaper ad showing a vaccine lotteries because of
intervention. smashed buggy with the Also, how long someone re- their general mistrust and re-
Many think they don’t need words “Vaccines can have un- mains immune after having jection of government help.
Early on, they posted flyers the COVID-19 vaccine now intended consequences.” COVID-19 isn’t clear, and The Amish don’t accept So-
at farm supply stores and at because they’ve already got- many experts advise getting cial Security benefits.
auctions where the Amish ten sick and believe their Public health officials try- vaccinated because it brings a
sell handmade furniture and communities have reached ing to combat the confusion higher level of protection. Trevor Thain, who owns
quilts. They sought advice herd immunity, according to and hesitancy have put up Topeka Pharmacy in north-
from members of the deep- health care providers in Ohio, billboards where the Amish Close to 180 million Ameri- ern Indiana, where there are
ly religious and conserva- Pennsylvania and Indiana, travel by horse and buggy, cans — 54% of the popula- 25,000 Amish, worked with
tive sect, who told them not home to nearly two-thirds of sent letters to bishops and of- tion — have received at least the CDC on bridging com-
to be pushy. And they asked the estimated 345,000 Amish fered to take the vaccines into one dose of a COVID-19 munication gaps in LaGrange
three newspapers widely read in the U.S. their homes and workplaces, vaccine. Experts say low vac- County, where just 18% of all
by the Amish to publish ads all without much success. cination rates could allow the residents are fully vaccinated.
promoting the vaccine. Two “That’s the No. 1 reason we virus to mutate and make a
refused. hear,” said Alice Yoder, di- “It’s not due to lack of effort,” comeback. Since the vaccine became
rector of community health said Michael Derr, the health available, they’ve immunized
By May, two rural vaccination at Lancaster General Health, commissioner in Holmes During the first months of 4,200 people, perhaps only 20
clinics had opened at a fire a network of hospitals and County, Ohio. “But this thing the pandemic, the Amish of them Amish, he said.
station and a social services clinics. is so politically charged.” followed social distancing
center, both familiar places guidelines and stopped gath- A few weeks ago he put out
to the Amish in Lancaster Experts say the low vaccina- Some health clinics that ering for church and funerals, flyers offering private ap-
County. During the first six tion rates are a reflection of serve the Amish are hesitant said Steven Nolt, a scholar at pointments or doses dis-
weeks, 400 people showed both the nature of the Amish to push the issue for fear of the Young Center for Ana- pensed inside homes. Only a
up. Only 12 were Amish. and the general vaccine hesi- driving them away from get- baptist and Pietist Studies at few Amish people respond-
tancy found in many rural ting blood pressure checks Elizabethtown College in ed, Thain said, including one
The vaccination drive is lag- parts of the country. and routine exams. Pennsylvania. who came with a request:
ging far behind in many “Don’t tell my family.”
Amish communities across Because many Amish work One local business and the
the U.S. following a wave of and shop alongside their organizers of a community
virus outbreaks that swept neighbors and hire them as event told the health depart-
through their churches and drivers, they hear the skepti- ment in Holmes County that
homes during the past year. cism, the worries about side it would no longer be wel-
In Ohio’s Holmes County, effects and the misinforma- come if it brought the vac-
home to the nation’s largest tion surrounding the vaccine cine to them, Derr said.
concentration of Amish, just from the “English,” or non-
14% of the county’s overall Amish, world around them Staff members at the Paro-
population is fully vaccinat- even though they shun most chial Medical Center, which
ed. modern conveniences. serves the Amish and Men-
nonites in Pennsylvania’s
While their religious beliefs “They’re not getting that Lancaster County, encourage
don’t forbid them to get vac- from the media. They’re not patients to get the vaccine,
cines, the Amish are general- watching TV or reading it on but many have little fear of
ly less likely to be vaccinated the internet. They’re getting the virus, said Allen Hoover,