Anti-vaccine activists held a rally in Brooklyn, New York last night, upsetting health officials who are now citing 1,000+ measles cases. Activist Del Bigtree led the unified front and spoke to journalists at the event.
Health officials claim the anti-vaccine activists target vulnerable communities with their rallies. This is their second New York rally in several weeks. Rabbi Hillel Handler was also on hand to protest mandatory vaccination laws.
Only one media outlet was given access to the rally, VosIzNeias. VIN News covers news for the Orthodox Jewish community. The VIN News reporter says 200 people were in attendance. The Washington Post was forced to remain outside of the event.
Per VIN News:
Over the course of about 12 minutes, Bigtree linked vaccines to the Holocaust and then to child sacrifice. He compared them to Nazi experimentation on unwilling Jewish medical subjects, then to the intentional ritual murder of children, in an effort to debunk the scientific consensus that a critical mass of vaccinated people, or herd immunity, means that even those who cannot be vaccinated for genuine medical reasons will have some protection from getting sick.
“It’s hard to imagine what it would be that would let you accept killing an innocent child,” he said. “What if I presented to you that this would make it worth it? This is the argument, right? Herd immunity. Herd immunity is the reason we’re allowed to kill some children.”
The crowd applauded.
An enraged New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot called the event “beyond irresponsible, it is downright dangerous.”
He also says that anti-vaxxers are “manipulating public opinion in lieu of the facts” and “targeting certain communities in Brooklyn with false claims.”
“They are adept at using strategies—from anonymous robocalls to transmitting false information through the Web—with impunity because they have no one to hold them accountable for misinformation,” she went on. “These shadow tactics show a callous disregard for every person who is unable to get immunized, such as newborn infants, people who are pregnant, and those who are immune-compromised. As a pediatrician and public health leader, I am beyond frustrated that such misinformation is causing fear and hundreds of innocent children to suffer.”
Yesterday, President Trump dealt a blow to both vaccine companies and abortion rights activist by banning the use of aborted fetuses in research.