"We as non-Amish are more on board with preventative medicine," Stein says. The widespread reluctance to get vaccinated in Amish communities is not surprising to West Virginia University sociologist Rachel Stein, who studies Amish populations across the country. Shots - Health News You Don't Have To Suffer To Benefit From COVID Vaccination - But Some Prefer It He says the few Amish who are getting vaccinated are doing so privately through doctors' offices and small rural clinics – and they are keeping it to themselves. Marcus Yoder, who lives in Holmes County, was born Amish and is now Mennonite and still has close ties to the Amish community. Still, few Amish residents are showing up to the health department's clinics. They've also reached out to bishops and community leaders to spread the word about the safety of the vaccines. In an effort to increase that number, health officials are holding vaccination clinics in rural areas. Less than 1% of Amish have received any doses of vaccine, according to Michael Derr, the county's health commissioner. Holmes County, where half of the population is Amish, has the lowest vaccination rate in Ohio, with just 10% of its roughly 44,000 residents fully vaccinated. Nevertheless, health officials are struggling to get residents vaccinated. As a result, these communities have experienced some of the state's highest rates of infection and deaths. Families eat, work and go to church together, and through the pandemic, mask-wearing and social distancing have been spotty. The Amish communities of northeast Ohio engage in textbook communal living. Holmes County, Ohio, General Health District staff members (from left) Michael Derr, Jennifer Talkington and Abbie Benton prepare materials for a COVID-19 vaccine clinic this month inside St.
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