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Amish Covid (Fast Herd Immunity)
Sott.net ^ | October 10,2021 | Staff

Posted on 10/13/2021 3:29:24 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion

When it comes to actions taken to address the Covid-19 threat, hindsight is still very much underway. For your consideration: a story and outcome you probably aren't hearing much about anywhere else. It takes place in the heart of Amish country.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: thousands of families lead lives largely separate from modern America.

The Amish are a Christian group that emphasizes the virtuous over the superficial. They don't usually drive, use electricity, or have TVs. And during the Covid-19 outbreak, they became subjects in a massive social and medical experiment.

.....

My summary: The amish community in Lancaster County PA took a different path to herd immunity and achieved it faster than anywhere else I've seen.

No vaxxes - or at least extremely rare.

This interview explains their thought process and what happened.

I also heard this same story from my doctor here in PA that treats the Amish community.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: amish; covid; herdimmunity; vaxx
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Transcript below:

Sharyl: So, it's safe to say there was a whole different approach here in this community when coronavirus broke out than many other places?

Calvin Lapp: Absolutely.

Calvin Lapp is Amish Mennonite.

Lapp: There's three things the Amish don't like. And that's government — they won't get involved in the government, they don't like the public education system — they won't send their children to education, and they also don't like the health system. They rip us off. Those are three things that we feel like we're fighting against all the time. Well, those three things are all part of what Covid is.

After a short shutdown last year, the Amish chose a unique path that led to Covid-19 tearing through at warp speed. It began with an important religious holiday in May.

Lapp: When they take communion, they dump their wine into a cup and they take turns to drink out of that cup. So, you go the whole way down the line, and everybody drinks out of that cup, if one person has coronavirus, the rest of church is going to get coronavirus. The first time they went back to church, everybody got coronavirus.

Lapp says they weren't denying coronavirus, they were facing it head on.

Lapp: It's a worse thing to quit working than dying. Working is more important than dying. But to shut down and say that we can't go to church, we can't get together with family, we can't see our old people in the hospital, we got to quit working? It's going completely against everything that we believe. You're changing our culture completely to try to act like they wanted us to act the last year, and we're not going to do it.

Steve Nolt is a scholar on Amish and Mennonite culture, and Mennonite himself. He's studying Amish news publications to analyze community-wide trends.

Sharyl: So, are you saying, as of about May of 2020, things kind of went back to normal in the Amish community?

Steve Nolt: For the most part, yeah, by the middle of May, it's sort of like back to a typical behavior again.

That also meant avoiding hospitals.

Nolt: I know of some cases in which Amish people refused to go to the hospital, even when they were very sick because if they went there, they wouldn't be able to have visitors. And it was more important to be sick, even very sick at home and have the ability to have some people around you than to go to the hospital and be isolated.

Then, last March, remarkable news. The Lancaster County Amish were reported to be the first community to achieve "herd immunity," meaning a large part of a population had been infected with Covid-19 and became immune.

Some outsiders are skeptical, and solid proof is hard to come by.

Nolt: Even those who believed that they had Covid tended not to get tested. Their approach tended to be, "I'm sick. I know I'm sick. I don't have to have someone else telling me I'm sick." Or a concern that if they got a positive test, they would then be asked to really dramatically limit what they were doing in a way that might be uncomfortable for them. So, we don't have that testing number.

Lapp: We didn't want the numbers to go up, because then they would shut things more. What's the advantage of getting a test?

One thing's clear: there's no evidence of any more deaths among the Amish than in places that shut down tight — some claim there were fewer here. That's without masking, staying at home, or another important measure.

Sharyl: Did most of the community, at least the adults, get the Covid-19 vaccine?

Nolt: Again, we don't have data on that, but I think it's pretty clear that in percentage terms, relatively few did.

Lapp: Oh, we're glad all the English people got their Covid vaccines. That's great. Because now we don't have to wear a mask, we can do what we want. So good for you. Thank you. We appreciate it. Us? No, we're not getting vaccines. Of course not. We all got the Covid, so why would you get a vaccine?

By staying open, the Amish here have one tangible 2020 accomplishment few others can claim.

Lapp: We have this joke: when everybody else started walking, we started running. We made more money in the last year than we ever did. It was our best year ever.

Did the Amish really find a magic formula? They say yes. And they don't care who doubts it.

Lapp: Yeah, all the Amish know we got herd immunity. Of course we got herd immunity! The whole church gets coronavirus. We know we got coronavirus. We think we're smarter than everybody. We shouldn't be bragging, but we think we did the right thing.

Sharyl (on-camera): Nolt, the scholar, is publishing a paper on the Amish social response to government mandates and Covid-19.

1 posted on 10/13/2021 3:29:24 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
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To: Jane Long; ransomnote; metmom

ping


2 posted on 10/13/2021 3:29:55 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion (Fraud vitiates everything ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ࡚ࠢ࠘ ⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏⁻ )
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

3 posted on 10/13/2021 3:33:54 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion (Fraud vitiates everything ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ࡚ࠢ࠘ ⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏⁻ )
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

i likemost things about them

dont like how they treat some of their animals


4 posted on 10/13/2021 3:34:09 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

After the three weeks and the two weeks to slow the spread and flatten the curve, the country should’ve opened back up with people protecting themselves as they chose.


5 posted on 10/13/2021 3:35:52 PM PDT by Freee-dame
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

The Amish are immune from the effects of COVID because they don’t watch TV.


6 posted on 10/13/2021 3:40:03 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("All lies and jest, ‘til a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.")
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To: Freee-dame

President Trump said by Easter in 2020. They all made fun of him,, but that was closer to the truth..

If they had not purposely prolonged the disease *Fauci* we would not have had sucmh a mess.


7 posted on 10/13/2021 3:42:23 PM PDT by madison10
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To: aMorePerfectUnion
That, and being outside as well. Staying cooped up inside probably did more to hurt people than anything else.

Also, how many fat Amish are there?

8 posted on 10/13/2021 3:45:39 PM PDT by MuttTheHoople (The best slaves put their own chains on )
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To: Secret Agent Man

Plus, Amish babes are hot.

9 posted on 10/13/2021 3:48:24 PM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

They let the disease run its course. That’s what we’ve always done in the past. But now we are entering a new phase of America led by the socialists.


10 posted on 10/13/2021 3:56:16 PM PDT by Hattie
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

I’ve been laughed at for suggesting that once we knew it mainly impacted old people, we should protect them and the rest of us should deliberately get COVID as fast as possible.

Sure some will die, probably fewer than are dying from the shot - but this would have been behind us long ago. We’re basically denying our bodies to do exactly what they’re designed to do.


11 posted on 10/13/2021 4:14:02 PM PDT by fuzzylogic (welfare state = sharing of poor moral choices among everybody)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion; Cathi; metmom; grey_whiskers; Fractal Trader; SecAmndmt; Roman_War_Criminal; ...

What could’ve been ping.


12 posted on 10/13/2021 4:14:37 PM PDT by Jane Long (What we were told was a “conspiracy theory” in 2020 is now fact. 🙏🏻 Ps 33:12 )
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To: Jane Long

Yep. Hindsight.


13 posted on 10/13/2021 4:16:29 PM PDT by LilFarmer
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To: aMorePerfectUnion
And, thanks to Sharyl Attkisson, we see how the lying MSM has *reported* this...

Another fake fact check from Facebook's "Science Feedback": this one about Amish Covid-19 immunity
SHARYL ATTKISSON.COM ^ | OCTOBER 13, 2021 | BY SHARYL ATTKISSON

Posted on 10/13/2021, 6:07:44 PM by Hojczyk

The Amish claim of herd immunity was previously reported by Associated Press and other news organizations, but didn't get wide circulation. The propagandists and fake fact checkers didn't challenge the topic at the time.

But my report on the same, which aired last Sunday on Full Measure, must be having an impact.

In response, Facebook's Health Feedback propagandists have made several false and unsupported claims in an attempt to discredit The Amish approach and the reporting about it.

The fake fact-checkers falsely claim that "natural immunity post-infection is variable, while vaccination provides safer and more reliable immunity." The bulk of the scientific studies show the opposite. (You can find them here and decide for yourself.)

Additionally, they misleadingly imply that those who have had Covid-19 have even better protection if they go ahead and get vaccinated, anyway. (Refer to the same study list for the actual scientific findings to date.)

14 posted on 10/13/2021 4:17:41 PM PDT by Jane Long (What we were told was a “conspiracy theory” in 2020 is now fact. 🙏🏻 Ps 33:12 )
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To: billorites

Ha! I can tell you haven’t spent much time in Amish country.


15 posted on 10/13/2021 4:22:05 PM PDT by Yak
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To: billorites

When I lived in an area with a lot of Amish and Mennonite, I found the girls to be every bit as attractive as mainstream girls. More so in some ways. They ain’t fat or flabby, that’s for sure. They all know how to cook and clean. I did see one Amish woman who’s biceps scared me just a little.


16 posted on 10/13/2021 4:23:59 PM PDT by Pollard (PureBlood)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion; Jane Long

considering all the crimes that they’ve supposedly committed and gotten away with across our country it’s not surprising they’ve gotten away with beating the kung flu... 😁...


17 posted on 10/13/2021 4:32:54 PM PDT by heavy metal (smiling improves your face value and makes people wonder what the hell you're up to... 😁)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

how Dare Atkinson exploit the Amish/Mennonite communities to try to keep her own covidprofiteering going for another month. Not to mention mixing the Plains in with the Non-Plains. What a pathetic, moneygrubbing, selfagrandizing creature that feeds off death.

“The false claim about the Amish is part of a larger trend of misinformation downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus or contending the virus is a hoax. AFP has debunked such claims here, here and here.”

https://factcheck.afp.com/covid-19-did-not-spare-us-amish-communities

“Fact Check: Amish Do NOT Universally Avoid Vaccines OR Escape Outbreaks Of Vaccine-Preventable Disease

“The claim that Amish people don’t vaccinate their children is put forth as if this is a faith-based restriction that is true for every Amish community. This is not true as explained on page 324 in the 1993 book, “Amish Society” by John A. Hostetler...A report titled, “Vaccination Usage Among An Old-Order Amish Community In Illinois” was published in the December 2006 edition of the The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.... finding that 90% of respondents had received vaccinations and 84% of families had vaccinated all of their children

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2021/08/fact-check-amish-do-not-universally-avoid-vaccines-or-outbreaks-of-vaccine-preventable-disease.html

“Death and religion: ‘Excess deaths’ sweep through Amish and Mennonite communities during COVID-19 pandemic

The death rate for that year soared above the baseline average from 2015 to 2019, with the largest spike – 125% - occurring in November.

“Researchers, led by Rachel Stein, associate professor of sociology, analyzed obituary information published in an Amish/Mennonite newspaper to examine excess death among this segment of the population in 2020. Their results are published in the Journal of Religion and Health.

https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2021/06/22/death-and-religion-excess-deaths-sweep-through-amish-and-mennonite-communities-during-covid-19-pandemic

“The excess death rate for Amish/Mennonites spiked with a 125% increase in November 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on this closed religious community highlights the need to consider religion to stop the spread of COVID-19.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34117598/

“As a region, we definitely surged over the winter, and we know that that happened about 90 days ago,” Derr said.

https://khn.org/news/article/ohios-amish-suffered-a-lot-from-covid-but-vaccines-are-still-a-hard-sell/

“There were Amish people getting the vaccination the same day I was ... and we all kind of looked at each other and smiled underneath our masks and assumed that we wouldn’t say that we saw them,” Yoder says.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/28/990986056/covid-19-has-hit-the-amish-community-hard-still-vaccines-are-a-hard-sell

At the May 20 testing clinic..Among the 30 persons with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, the mean age was 46 years (range = 12–86 years), and 21 (70%) were male. Eight of those persons reported having underlying medical conditions..

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6945a2.htm

“Vaccination enhances immunity in people who previously had COVID-19; little evidence for claim that the Amish community in Lancaster County, PA, have herd immunity

“..as immunologist Jennifer T. Grier from the University of South Carolina explained in an article in The Conversation, not everyone who gets infected will develop the same protective immunity. “As many as 9% of infected people don’t have detectable antibodies, and up to 7% of people don’t have T cells that recognize the virus 30 days after infection”. ... Fact checks of claims related to the Amish being spared from COVID-19 can be found here, here and here. Speaking to the AFP, Allen Hoover, said that the opposite was true: “Because the Amish are such a tight knit community, and because they have largely ignored all safety protocols among themselves, they have experienced a much higher than average COVID-19 infection rate”.

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/vaccination-enhances-immunity-in-people-who-previously-had-covid-19-little-evidence-for-claim-that-the-amish-community-in-lancaster-county-pa-have-herd-immunity/

in general Amish children are subject to more preventable childhood disease:
https://www.aappublications.org/news/2017/08/02/AmishVaccines080217

https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-covid-amish-idUSL2N2NZ1TY


18 posted on 10/13/2021 4:51:07 PM PDT by blueplum ("...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017) )
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To: billorites
they don't shave
19 posted on 10/13/2021 4:51:13 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.)
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To: blueplum

our citizens are being required to be used as experimental lab rats while our government doesn’t require the hundreds of thousands of disease carrying invaders it’s spreading across our country during a “global pandemic” to participate in the same experiment...

our government’s actions and double standards prove the kung flu is a scam...


20 posted on 10/13/2021 4:59:07 PM PDT by heavy metal (smiling improves your face value and makes people wonder what the hell you're up to... 😁)
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