Ultra-Orthodox Jews Vaccinate, Too

In this year's U.S. measles outbreak, parts of Brooklyn and Rockland County have experienced two-thirds of the reported 704 infections. The media generally blame an alleged low vaccination rate in these areas, each with a large percentage of ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Public health experts corroborate this message. Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control testified to Congress: "I do believe that…most cases that we're seeing are in unvaccinated communities." Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, declared:

"Coverage in a given community, when it falls below a certain critical level, you get the kinds of outbreaks that we're seeing, particularly in places like New York City and the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn…. his is a relatively closed community, a Hasidic Jewish community in that area — that are not vaccinating their children at a rate that would provide that broad umbrella of protection that we call herd immunity…When you drop down to the 80s or even the 70s [emphasis added] or even lower, where it is now in that community, that's exactly the explanation of why we're seeing the outbreaks that we're seeing."