Measles outbreak leads New York county to ban unvaccinated children from public spaces

cde.news desk 26 March 2019, 18:06 · 1 min read

epa07369897 A nurse from township public health department prepares to inject measles and rubella vaccine during a regular vaccinating session in Yangon, Myanmar, 14 February 2019. Myanmar has scheduled supplementary measles immunizations campaign from 17 to 28 February 2019 which will cover about 580,000 children aged between 9 months and 15 years old at seven townships in Yangon where the epidemic of measles breaks out. Myanmar public health department on 13 February 2019 announced that they found out 248 laboratory-confirmed measles cases in Yangon between 01 to 04 February 2019 which is relatively high compared to 646 laboratory-confirmed cases of measles in the whole of 2018. EPA-EFE/LYNN BO BO

A county just north of New York City declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and banned children not vaccinated against measles from public spaces, officials said.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day cited a state law, which gives local officials sweeping powers “in the event of reasonable apprehension of immediate danger” to the public.

“Effective at the stroke of midnight, Wednesday, March 27, anyone who is under 18 years of age and unvaccinated against the measles will be barred from public places until this declaration expires in 30 days or until they receive the MMR vaccination,” according to a statement from Rockland County officials.

Via NBC/NYT

Topics Measles New York