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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   21135 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026

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Minnesota has low vaccination rates, due to - uh, the Somali community and fears about vaccination there? Gosh, who knew there was a secret nest of Trump voters in that community!

In 2006, 92% of Somali 2-year-olds were up-to-date on the measles vaccine, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Today's rate is closer to 24%, according to state data. A 95% rate is needed to prevent outbreaks of measles, an extremely contagious disease.

...Estimated autism rates in Somali 4-year-olds are 3.5 times higher than those of white 4-year-olds in Minnesota, according to University of Minnesota data. Researchers say they don’t know why. And in this vacuum of scientific certainty, inaccurate beliefs thrive.

Many blame the measles, mumps and rubella shot — a single injection proven to safely protect against the three viruses, with the first dose recommended when children are 12 to 15 months old.

In November, at one of Maalimisaq’s last Motherhood Circle gatherings, Somali mothers and grandmothers volleyed questions at facilitators. Won’t a shot for three viruses overwhelm a baby? Why does autism seem more prevalent here than back home?

...Most parents here vaccinate their children eventually. Many Somali families prefer to wait until a child is 5, despite a lack of evidence that doing so cuts autism rates. Measles is endemic in Somalia, where war and international aid cuts have crippled the medical system, and elsewhere in East Africa where residents here often travel.

“Measles is just a plane ride away, and measles is going to find the unvaccinated,” said Carly Edson, the state health department’s immunization outreach coordinator. “We are always at risk.”

Oh, look. The reason is not correlated with voting for Trump. Impeccably Blue and vaccinated California has outbreaks, one traced to someone who visited Texas and picked up a case from the outbreak there, plus exposure traced to international travellers (one of whom visited Disneyland).

In 2006, 92% of Somali 2-year-olds were up-to-date on the measles vaccine, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Today's rate is closer to 24%, according to state data.

Such a huge drop in 20 years is baffling.

It seems to be a combination of (1) higher autism rates (there's a bit in the article I didn't quote about a gathering for Somali mothers who asked the nurse leading it "Why does autism seem more prevalent here than back home?") being diagnosed in the USA amongst the kids and (2) from that, picking up the anti-vax attitudes around "vaccines cause autism" and (3) cultural habits of vaccinating the kids when they're older plus (4) the article can't resist blaming (a) the pandemic when everything was locked down, people couldn't go out, and thus visits to get the kids vaccinated also fell off and of course (b) it's all the fault of ICE scaring everyone so they stay home and don't go out in case they get picked up by them.

Plus the funding for vaccination initiatives such as outreach to the community got cut and such efforts were start-and-stop anyway, and on top of that back in Somalia measles is endemic, so if people travel home and back to the USA then there's a greater risk that they'll bring infection with them.

They aren't the same Somalis.

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