Ultra-Orthodox Londoners roll up their sleeves to fight COVID

But the wide-brimmed hats and long black coats that protected them from the cold were more of religion than time. These ultra-Orthodox Jews are members of a community that has been particularly affected by the virus, which has killed nearly 117,000 people in Britain.

Hoping to break down the barriers that sometimes isolate Orthodox from wider society, community leaders organized the emerging vaccination event for Saturday night to coincide with the end of Shabbat, the day of rest. Jew. They believed that this was the best time to attract the faithful, as it would fit perfectly into the hours after the service, and people would be more relaxed as no one worked.

“I want to see the grandchildren and I haven’t seen them in months, so you know this is the perfect time to get it,” 66-year-old Asatr Walmberg said after rolling up his sleeve. “And we hope to see them soon.”

As Britain’s National Health Service rushes to meet its target of giving a first dose of vaccine to more than 15 million people by Monday, including health workers and all over the age of 75, health workers are trying to reach to those who have been lost. The need is particularly great in Stamford Hill, the center of the ultra-Orthodox community in north London.

Since many ultra-Orthodox shunned social media and the Internet, it has taken people here to realize the dangers of COVID-19 and their community has experienced some of the highest infection rates in London. 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 itself, raised £ 10,000 ($ 13,840) and asked the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to study them to find out why they were so affected.

An analysis of blood samples from 1,242 people found an infection rate of 64%, one of the highest recorded in the world. In contrast, the Office for National Statistics estimates that around 16% of the population of England has had COVID-19.

Assistant Professor Michael Marks, one of the project’s researchers, 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. .

Probably COVID-19 was circulating much more than initially thought, which meant that government messaging about the virus lagged behind the real risk. This allowed the virus to spread rapidly in the community.

“And then they had a big religious event, which everyone attended, because at that point the advice was to continue, so I think that could explain the big increase at the beginning,” Marks said.

Community leaders now believe that one way to prevent recurrence is to make sure as many people as possible are vaccinated. So they removed the excuses for not attending. In addition to the calendar, the message that appears came out through community channels, so people knew it. In light of the sensitivities, there were both male and female vaccinators.

“It’s just about making people feel comfortable and making them feel comfortable,” said Joel Friedman, director of public affairs for the Interlink Foundation, an umbrella group of Orthodox volunteer organizations.

Other religious leaders took part, such as the Muslim Mustafa Field of Faiths Forum for London. They hope that an interfaith model will help community organizations take the lead. It is a model that the British government hopes to use across the country, as the NHS tries to ensure that vaccination does not lose other hard-to-reach communities.

“Making them do it here here is really a great lesson to see how we can replicate some of it.”

Jewish leaders also hope the vaccine will help dispel the misconception that ultra-Orthodox Jews are unaware of the danger posed by COVID-19.

Last month, police stormed an Orthodox wedding at a local school because 100 people attended, in violation of blockade rules banning meetings. A Jewish News investigation suggested it was not an isolated fact. Ugly headlines about the event were seen as community-wide quotes instead of breaking the rules.

“What happened was unacceptable. Hopefully, scenes like this will never happen again, ”said Friedman. “But there’s a strong feeling that we’re being treated a little unfairly and that 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, Rabbi Michael Biberfeld said as he sat down to shoot. He said Orthodox Jews have an obligation to “get the vaccine as soon as possible to make sure” that they stay healthy and do not infect other people.

“As I quoted one of the Israeli rabbis who said,‘ This is a fuck for the person taking the vaccine, but a big leap forward for all of us, for humanity, ’” he said.