Summer camp in New York refuses to accept children who have been vaccinated against COVID-19

With summer approaching, some camps announced the possibility of a mask-free summer for vaccinated campers. But one Jewish camp, which plans to open for the summer, is taking a different approach: prohibiting vaccinated people from attending the camp. The edition told in more detail JTA.

Advertisements for Camp Heacon in upstate New York have appeared in e-mail newsletters popular in the Orthodox Jewish community. On the posters, there is a call not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Such announcements appeared a few days after a private school in Miami discouraged teachers from being vaccinated and advised children not to contact vaccinated people.

In Jewish communities, anti-vaccination sentiment and misinformation about COVID-19 are taking new forms: skepticism and non-compliance with public health rules are relatively high.

Camp Heacon aims to prepare boys for the "political, environmental, and economic" changes to come. Despite the declared interest in preparing holidaymakers for "natural disasters", the vaccinated are prohibited from visiting the camp.

The camp accepts boys from 8 to 18 years old on three-week tours costing $ 3. In addition to studying the Torah, camp participants must learn how to prepare and store food, build and emotionally resist adversity. New York Post.

Naftali Schwartz, a self-proclaimed “health coach” from Brooklyn with no formal medical or public health education who is opening the camp, said the rule is unlikely to scare anyone off.

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Building on a debunked theory spread by the anti-vaccination movement, the camp's website refers to the "experimental nature" of the COVID-19 vaccines. According to the false theory, living in close proximity to vaccinated people can "amplify" the spread of the coronavirus. The website directs readers to a site called NutriTruth, which claims vaccines are "biological weapons," and to a live discussion between several well-known antivaccinators.

“We regret not being able to accommodate campers or staff members who have already received any of these injections,” the website says.

Schwartz said he introduced the rule because of "suspicious symptoms that occur in unvaccinated people who spend a lot of time in the company of vaccinated people."

“I was also informed by the parents of my future tourists that this is real and worrisome,” Schwartz said.

The idea that unvaccinated people can be harmed by spending time with people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine is not true. Vaccinated people cannot release vaccine particles that could affect anyone in their environment.

Other debunked theories were listed in posters that appeared this week in Midwood, Brooklyn's mostly orthodox neighborhood. Unsigned posters discouraged Orthodox Jews from getting vaccinated because of the potential risks to fertility (another theory debunked) and other reasons.

“Many, many rabbis who have thoroughly researched the COVID-19 vaccine say not to do it,” one of the leaflets said.

The flyer included a link to an online booklet with the names of rabbis who allegedly opposed the coronavirus vaccine. She also promoted drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, such as hydroxychloroquine (studies have shown them to be ineffective).

The drug was promoted by Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, an orthodox physician who until last summer worked in the Hasidic enclave of Kiryas Joel and whose treatment protocol was promoted by Donald Trump when he was president.

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An online brochure claimed that people were not dying because of the coronavirus. “They died either due to lack of proper treatment or neglect or inappropriate treatment in the hospital,” the brochure says.

Anti-vaccine sentiment persists in hotbeds of the Orthodox Jewish community, which were hit by a 2019 measles outbreak after a child who came to Israel spread the disease to other unvaccinated children in Brooklyn and upstate New York.

The outbreak was brought under control after the New York City Department of Health imposed fines on parents who refused to vaccinate their children.

According to the New York City Department of Health's COVID-19 vaccination data, only 18% of Borough Park residents are fully vaccinated, and 28% are partially vaccinated. In Midwood, only 22% of residents are fully vaccinated and 30% are partially vaccinated. In comparison, among residents of the Upper West Side, one of the most vaccinated areas in the city, 54% of residents are fully vaccinated and 65% are partially vaccinated.

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It remains to be seen whether Camp Heacon will actually be able to carry out its plans. There are no children in the camp yet, and Schwartz has not yet received a permit to work in the camp.

But he has a clear vision of what will happen there. Masks are not encouraged in the camp; As for how the camp will fight the spread of COVID-19, campers will be treated with "an abundance of vitamin D and other preventative treatments," according to the website.

In the camp, Torah study will be combined with teaching the rules of survival in extreme situations. According to Schwartz, the main goal of the camp is to prepare campers for a future in which political instability, economic instability and unusual weather events can create supply chain problems that will interfere with daily life. According to the information on the website, campers will build their own shelters, and the camp plans to provide special shoes designed for survival conditions.

“We are working with families who understand that the years in the future will not be like the years in the past,” said Schwartz.