New York orders mandatory measles vaccinations, blasts misinformation fueling outbreak
NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency in parts of Brooklyn on Tuesday in response to a measles outbreak, requiring unvaccinated people living in the affected areas to get the vaccine or face fines.
The city's largest measles outbreak since 1991 has mainly been confined to the Orthodox Jewish community in the borough of Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, with 285 cases confirmed since October, de Blasio said at a news conference. That compares to only two reported cases in 2017.
"This is the epicenter of a measles outbreak that is very, very troubling and must be dealt with immediately," de Blasio said. He was joined by health officials who decried what they called "misinformation" spread by opponents of vaccination.
The Brooklyn outbreak has been traced to an unvaccinated child who became infected on a visit to Israel, which is also grappling with a measles outbreak, according to New York City's Department of Health.
The mandatory vaccination order follows an order from the Health Department last week requiring yeshivas and day-care programs serving Williamsburg's Orthodox Jewish community to exclude unvaccinated children or face fines or closure.
Another outbreak has hit Orthodox Jewish families in New York's Rockland County. Officials there banned children not vaccinated against measles from public spaces last month.
That order was overturned by a state judge on Friday, who said the reported number of cases fell short of an epidemic, local media reported.
A growing and vocal fringe of parents oppose vaccinations, believing, contrary to scientific evidence, that ingredients in the vaccines can cause autism or other disorders.
