Vaccines are a highly contested topic these days.
Whether you’re for them or against them, there’s no denying that their dip in popularity has had some catastrophic outcomes.
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Preventable diseases are being spread to those who are most vulnerable.
Children too young to get their measles vaccination are the most likely to contract the infection .
Choosing not to get your child vaccinated doesn’t just hurt them—they could potentially spread measles and other diseases to the rest of the population.
A cruise chip owned by the Church of Scientology was recently quarantined over a measles outbreak.
The Free Winds is a 440 foot ship described as “a religious retreat ministering the most advanced level of spiritual counseling.”
The ship is currently at St. Lucia, where it has been quarantined after a case of measles was discovered on board.
Health officials have stated that all passengers aboard Free Winds are currently stable.
Dr. Merlene Fredericks-James, the St. Lucia chief medical officer, explained that in order to contain the infection, they’ve prohibited any passengers from leaving the ship.
“Because of the risk of potential infection, not just from the confirmed measles case but from other persons who may be on the boat at the time, we thought it prudent to make a decision not to allow anyone to disembark.”
100 doses of the measles vaccine have been brought to the ship.
The vaccine supplies were provided by the St. Lucia Department of Health and Wellness.
As it turns out, Scientologists have a surprising stance on vaccinations.
In 2016, the church made a statement that they “take no position one way or the other on this issue,” despite several high-profile celebrities in the church speaking out against vaccines.
“Scientologists are pretty independent people…though they tend to do a little more research on the effect of various medical procedures.”
The statement explained that those within the church “make their own decisions, but those aren’t decisions that the church tries to influence in any way.”
The quarantine has garnered a lot of attention, more so about the ship than the measles case.
Not many people knew that the Church of Scientology owned a cruise ship.
I’m trying really hard not to make a Tom Cruise joke here. It’s just too easy.
At the end of the day, diseases like Measles don’t discriminate against different religious groups.
If you aren’t vaccinated, you have a high probability of contracting and consequently spreading the disease, regardless of your gender, race, religion, or socioeconomic status.
Here’s to hoping that all of Free Wind’s passengers have a safe journey home.
