Charedi leaders in Stamford Hill have denied that the local community is responsible for the area having one of the capital’s lowest vaccination rates.
New NHS figures suggest that Stamford Hill South and Upper Clapton in Hackney are among the least vaccinated places in London, with four in ten adults unvaccinated.
However, communal leaders said they had been “impressed” overall by the vaccine take-up among Charedim.
Rabbi Herschel Gluck, president of Shomrim in Stamford Hill, said he had been encouraged “by the community’s desire to be vaccinated. On the whole, people are desperate to have it. I haven’t seen large scale reluctance from our community. People are booking their appointments when they are invited.
“People are pragmatic at the end of the day,” he added. “They know it is the key to freedom. They want to be able to travel and get back to normal life and that is the way to do it.”
He thought the low vaccine rates in local areas were more likely to be attributable to “understandable” historical reasons behind hesitancy among other minority communities — “and a lot of work is being done to help with that”.
Interlink — an umbrella organisation for Charedi groups — has regular meetings with Hackney Council and Public Health England to discuss vaccine promotion within the community.
Its Joel Friedman reported a “good understanding amongst the Charedi community in Stamford Hill about the importance of the vaccine. Communal leaders are strongly encouraging people to take up the vaccine and Hatzola volunteers, in particular, have done an incredible job vaccinating people at mass events.
“There is still further work to be done in order to reach all parts of the community and we will continue to work with our partners in Hackney Council and PHE to raise awareness.”
The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations has publicly endorsed the vaccine programme, urging community members to get their jabs.
Hatzola’s mass vaccination events have been attended by senior rabbis — and the Vaccines Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, was on hand to observe a February session. The vaccination drives have also been open to the wider community.
One senior figure suggested that the nationwide lag in vaccine uptake among women of fertility age might “explain some of the figures for Stamford Hill”, adding that government and council outreach needed to be stronger.
“For people who don’t have access to mainstream media and social media channels — or even regular use of the internet — it is quite challenging to get the correct message through and dispel conspiracy theories and scepticism.”
