Little Evidence to Suggest Orthodox Jews Affected by Measles Are Undervaccinated

Orthodox Jews have customs and beliefs very different from those of the mainstream, so when measles started to spread among them, the rest of the world jumped to the conclusion that this was because many of them eschew vaccination. Stoked by fear of a disease that health officials could not stop, many media reports and even the New York mayor’s office have reinforced this narrative. Stoked by fear of a disease that health officials could not stop, many media reports and even the New York mayor’s office have reinforced this narrative. To date, city officials have reported 390 cases of measles in Brooklyn and Queens since the outbreak started in October, and media and government officials have implied that low vaccination rates are responsible.

To fix this apparent failure to vaccinate, Mayor Bill de Blasio mandated MMR vaccination in neighborhoods affected by the outbreak as well as in surrounding neighborhoods encompassed by four zip codes. This mandate overruled established New York law that gives parents the right to opt not to vaccinate their children based on religious reasons. Furthermore, because of the belief that there is widespread abuse of the religious exemption among Jews, some New York state senators now are calling for an end to the exemption. However, a careful look at the data available on vaccination rates in Orthodox Jewish communities, and reports by members of the community and their doctors, indicate that the Hasidic community is vaccinated on par with the rest of the city.

What the Data Shows City officials say that 1,800 school-age children in yeshivas (Jewish educational institutions) in Williamsburg and Borough Park, where the vast majority of the outbreaks in the city are located, have vaccination exemptions on file. The health department told The Epoch Times that it doesn’t know how many students attend these schools in total. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) estimates that there are more than 50,000 K-12 school children in these two communities. This number puts the vaccination rate at around 96 percent. The threshold for herd immunity for measles is presumed to be 93 to 95 percent.

That information also is supported by Jane Zucker, New York City’s assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Immunization. Zucker told Vox that most school-age children in the community are vaccinated at levels on par with other schools. Vox reporter Julia Belluz wrote, “Vaccine levels in Jewish schools in New York City look average, although religious schools have more religious exemptions than non-religious schools.”

The health department told The Epoch Times that city schools have a 98.6 percent vaccine compliance rate and that some yeshivas are indeed at this rate. It also said some yeshivas are at 80 percent but didn’t specify how many schools fall into each category. A request for clarification was not returned by press time. Also important to note is that some of these 1,800 exemptions are for medical reasons.

OJPAC also noted in a statement that in upstate Rockland County, where the Orthodox community is also in the midst of a measles outbreak, most schools now have a 95 percent vaccination rate for measles. One yeshiva had 100 percent compliance, as reported by health officials early in the outbreak.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/little-evidence-to-suggest-orthodox-jews-affected-by-measles-are-undervaccinated_2895265.html

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experiencing the same issue at the moment

Democrats dare Barr to pull out of hearing

Democrats made moves Monday in defiance of Attorney General William Barr's wishes ahead of his planned testimony before the House Judiciary Committee this week. The two sides are grappling over the terms of the top Justice Department official's testimony on special counsel Robert Mueller's report, and if they can't reach an agreement, a subpoena could be in the making. Barr is scheduled to testify before the committee Thursday but threatened to pull out this week after getting word that Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., wants to add additional rounds of questions where the counsel for the Democratic and Republican parties would have 30 minutes to ask Barr questions. The Justice Department has so far not signaled a willingness to accept those terms.

“The Attorney General agreed to appear before Congress. Therefore, Members of Congress should be the ones doing the questioning. He remains happy to engage with Members on their questions regarding the Mueller report," a Justice Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner early Monday morning. Undaunted by the DOJ's objections, the Democratic majority formally announced on Monday it would stick to Nadler's preferred format, counsel questioning included. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Politico that he believes Barr is trying to exert undue control over the committee. “The attorney general seems to want to dictate the internal decision-making of the House Judiciary Committee. That’s plainly unacceptable to us,” Raskin said. “We obviously can’t and don’t tell him how to run his meetings. And he can’t tell us how to run our meetings.”

Nadler suggested Barr might be afraid but strongly hinted that a subpoena would ensue if the attorney general doesn't show. "If the attorney general is afraid to subject [himself] to questions where you can follow up, that may indicate lack of confidence in his own position," Nadler said to reporters Monday. "And more to the point, we have to get to the bottom of these issues. That's why we've called him in. It's not up to the attorney general to tell the committee how to conduct its business.

The White House has said it prefers cooperation with lawmakers, but press secretary Sarah Sanders snapped at Democrats on Monday. “You have to look at the outrageous behavior, particularly of the House Democrats, who are asking for things they know they can't have, that they know they have no legal authority to have,” Sanders said. Barr is also set to testify before the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, which by all appearances is still a go.

A redacted version of Mueller’s report on his 22-month investigation was released on April 18. The report clears Trump of colluding with Russia but also lays out 10 instances where Trump might have obstructed justice. Attorney General William Barr and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote a four-page summary of Mueller’s investigation last month that cleared Trump of conspiring with Russia and of obstructing justice. Upset with Barr’s rollout and emboldened by some of the findings in Mueller’s report, Democrats have ratcheted up calls for investigations into the president and his administration, although leadership has sidestepped calling for impeachment proceedings.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democrats-dare-barr-to-pull-out-of-hearing

Federal appeals court won't reexamine constitutionality of Mueller appointment

A federal appeals court denied a request on Monday to rehear a case on whether it was constitutional to appoint special counsel Robert Mueller. In February, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals determined Mueller was legally named to the role by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to lead the investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Andrew Miller, who worked for longtime Trump associate Roger Stone and failed to comply with a federal grand jury subpoena to testify about Stone, requested the case be reheard. He argued President Trump should have nominated Mueller and then have the Senate confirm him. His request was rejected by the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, along with a request to rehear the case in front of a full court.

Miller was held in contempt of the court last year for refusing to testify before the federal grand jury after receiving a subpoena. A judge ordered Miller to go to jail, but that was put on hold due to his appeal. Prosecutors had been seeking information from him about Stone, Russia, and WikiLeaks. Stone was indicted by Mueller in January on charges including witness tampering and lying to congressional investigators. The court denied Miller's request Monday to examine whether the issue is moot because the Stone case is closed. There have been hints that there are other ongoing investigations that might be tied to Stone.