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01.06.2023 | Original Paper

Pathways to Immunity: Patterns of Excess Death Across the United States and Within Closed Religious Communities

verfasst von: Rachel E. Stein, Corey J. Colyer, Katie E. Corcoran, Annette M. Mackay

Erschienen in: Journal of Religion and Health | Ausgabe 4/2023

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Abstract

Public health officials promoted COVID-19 vaccines to limit burdens placed on the U.S. healthcare system and end the pandemic. People in some closed religious communities refused to vaccinate and likely acquired temporary immunity through infection. This paper compares the death rates in Amish, Old Order Mennonites, and conservative Mennonite groups to a rate estimated for the U.S. population. Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population was immunized against COVID-19, while few in the Amish/Mennonite community were. We find divergent patterns. Once vaccines became available, excess deaths declined in the general population and remained elevated among Amish and Mennonites. Vaccination campaigns must consider and value the cultural beliefs of closed religious communities to be effective.

The Amish Population statistics provided by the Young Center indicate 28 states in the obituary data currently house Amish settlements, while six states do not have any settlements (Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies, 2022). The obituaries in states without Amish settlements likely represent deaths of people from Mennonite groups.

We used the U.S. population as the comparison group. We also calculated the excess death rate across the 34 states represented in Amish/Mennonite obituaries; the pattern of excess death in the limited sample of states paralleled the national excess death rates.

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Titel: Pathways to Immunity: Patterns of Excess Death Across the United States and Within Closed Religious Communities
verfasst von: Rachel E. Stein
Corey J. Colyer
Katie E. Corcoran
Annette M. Mackay
Publikationsdatum: 01.06.2023
Verlag: Springer US
Erschienen in: Journal of Religion and Health / Ausgabe 4/2023
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01838-z

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