LONDON (AP) – As people across England huddled indoors in freezing temperatures and a national blockade, nearly 300 elderly men and women lined up outside a health center in north-east London to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
But the wide-brimmed hats and long black coats that protected them from the cold were more about religion than climate. These ultra-Orthodox Jews are members of a community that has been particularly hard hit by the virus, which has killed almost 117,000 people in Britain.
In the hope of breaking the barriers that sometimes isolate Orthodox from society at large, community leaders organized the vaccination event for Saturday night to coincide with the end of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. They believed that this was the best time to attract the faithful because it would fit perfectly in the post-service hours – and people would be more relaxed, since no one was working.
“I want to see the grandchildren and I haven’t seen them in months, so you know this is an ideal time to see them,” said Asher Warmberg, 66, after rolling up his sleeves. “And I hope we can see them soon.”
While Britain’s National Health Service has achieved its goal of giving the first dose of the vaccine to more than 15 million people, including health professionals and everyone over 75, authorities are trying to reach those who do not. participated in the national campaign. The need is particularly great at Stamford Hill, the center of the ultra-Orthodox community in North London.
Since many ultra-Orthodox shy away from social media and the internet, people here have been slow to realize the dangers of COVID-19 and their community has experienced some of London’s highest infection rates. Many fell ill last March, after the Jewish holiday of Purim, a day of celebration and joy.
Local leaders, determined not to allow history to repeat themselves, raised £ 10,000 ($ 13,840) and asked to be studied by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to find out why they were so hit.
An analysis of blood samples from 1,242 people found an infection rate of 64% – one of the highest recorded anywhere in the world. In contrast, the Office for National Statistics estimates that about 16% of England’s population had COVID-19.
Assistant professor Michael Marks, one of the researchers on the project, said preliminary results suggest that ultra-Orthodox saw many cases because public health officials did not fully understand the virus last spring and because their small community is very close.
COVID-19 was probably circulating much more widely than initially thought, which meant that government messages about the virus fell short of the real risk. This allowed the virus to spread quickly in the community.
“And then they had a big religious event, which everyone attended, because at the time the advice was to continue, so I think that may explain the big increase at the beginning,” said Marks.
Community leaders now believe that one way to prevent recurrence is to ensure that as many people as possible are vaccinated. Then, they eliminated excuses for not attending. In addition to the time, the next message was transmitted through the community channels, so that people could find out. In view of the sensitivities, he relied on male and female vaccinators.
“It’s just a matter of people feeling comfortable, people feeling comfortable,” said Joel Friedman, director of public relations at the Interlink Foundation, an umbrella group of orthodox volunteer organizations.
Other religious leaders participated, such as Mustafa Field of Faiths Forum for London, a Muslim. They hope that a cross-religion model will help community organizations to take the lead in the future. It is a model that the British government hopes to use across the country as the NHS tries to ensure that the vaccination campaign does not miss out on other communities that are difficult to reach.
“Having them do it here is really a great lesson to see how we can replicate part of it,” said Vaccination Minister Nadhim Zahawi, who attended the event. “So, let’s take this as a great model of religious groups working with the local government and, of course, the NHS.”
Jewish leaders also hope that the vaccination campaign will help dispel the misconception that ultra-Orthodox Jews are ignoring the danger posed by COVID-19.
The police broke into an orthodox wedding at a local school last month because it was attended by 100 people, violating the blocking rules that prevent large meetings. A Jewish News investigation suggested that it was not an isolated event. Ugly headlines about the event were seen as tainting the entire community, rather than violating the rules.
“What happened was unacceptable. Hopefully, scenes like this will never happen again, ”said Friedman. “But there is a strong feeling that we are being treated a little unfairly, and the whole community is being marked with the same brush, which is very unfair.”
The vaccine is a “big step forward” for the Orthodox community and British society as a whole, said Rabbi Michael Biberfeld as he sat down to get the vaccine. He said that Orthodox Jews have an obligation to “get the vaccine as soon as possible to make sure” that they remain healthy and do not infect other people.
“As I quoted one of the Israeli rabbis as saying, ‘This is a blow to the person who gets the vaccine, but a big leap for all of us, for humanity,'” he said.
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This story corrected the name of a person receiving a dose of the vaccine for Asher Warmberg.
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