Metro Detroit has been a leading location for the anti-vaccination movement—and as of Thursday afternoon, Michigan officials had confirmed 22 measles cases.
They came in a steady stream to a synagogue community center in the suburbs of Detroit: firefighters in uniform, mothers pushing strollers, men in dark suits, local workers on their lunch break. They passed through doors emblazoned with a warning: “This clinic is for vaccinations only. Do NOT enter if you have any symptoms.”
Inside, a team of health workers passed out clipboards and prepped people for shots to protect them against the country’s latest outbreak of measles—a disease that was all but eliminated two decades ago but that is making a potentially deadly comeback fueled by international travelers and homegrown anti-vaxxers.
“It’s beyond my comprehension why people would choose not to vaccinate,” said Linda Shevin, a grandmother of two baby boys, ages 4 months and 7 months, who live in Oak Park, Michigan, an Orthodox Jewish enclave that is the epicenter of the outbreak.
Shevin said her daughter, afraid her infant son may get infected, has become a virtual shut-in since the news that an Israeli traveler had brought measles to the community and that it was spreading fast. She said she was nervous after learning the kosher grocery store where her son works was listed as a possible infection site. “He went and got the booster,” she said, “so he’s good.”
More than 1,400 people have rushed to three free makeshift clinics to get vaccines or boosters since the outbreak was announced. Among them, at Young Israel of Oak Park, was Cindy Starman, a 62-year-old who works with special needs children, and decided to get a booster.
“You know what? Better safe than sorry,” she said. “I mean, nobody wants measles.”
Read the full story here.