Imagine if a conservative news source published what you’re about to read concerning a Muslim community, Save Jerseyans. You don’t need a particularly wild imagine to get there! The reaction would be ugly.
A little background: New York Times senior writer David Leonhardt has been opining for months on “Red Covid,” a phrase he coined to refer to the fact that Republicans (or at least those living in red areas) purportedly die in higher numbers from Covid-19 because they’re anti-science boobs. That’s the theory in a nutshell.
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He released the latest variant of the same diatribe this week; opining about it on Twitter, Leonhardt (who reportedly has Jewish ancestry on his father’s side) struck out against Ocean County, New Jersey, the subject of the new piece, and cited religion as a reason for low vaccine rates:
Bottom line: All of these unnecessary deaths among people who have chosen not to get vaccinated is an American tragedy. https://t.co/LURR9Am2hR
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) February 18, 2022
A secondary factor explaining Ocean County’s low vaccination rate is religion: https://t.co/ErxmVvIEg8
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) February 18, 2022
Ocean County is home to one of the Garden State’s most robust Jewish populations centered on Lakewood which is 60%-ish Jewish.
Schlomo Schoor of The Lakewood Shopper is probably the Northern Jersey Shore’s leading local journalist at the moment.
He took issue with Leonhardt’s characterization of the situation and hit back with some cold hard numbers:
The age factor is the more likely reason. With nearly 20% of the population under 5 years old and over 50% of Lakewood's population being younger than 18 years old, that is the biggest reason for the low vaccination rate here. https://t.co/EHcPOSK8jk
— Shlomo Schorr (@OneJerseySchorr) February 18, 2022
How can religion be the "secondary factor" when according to the New Jersey Health Department, 92% of Lakewood residents 65+ are vaccinated and 74% of the over 30 years old group? Are the younger people here more religious? https://t.co/XFQznPazYr
— Shlomo Schorr (@OneJerseySchorr) February 18, 2022
