By Hana Levi Julian – Jewish Press and COLlive
Jewish children heading to summer camp this month will need to show proof they have received a measles vaccination when they head “upstate” in New York.
All day and overnight camps in Rockland, Sullivan, Orange and Ulster Counties are required to provide proof their campers are vaccinated against the measles virus or have proof of immunity in order to operate this year.
“We have to make sure our “t’s” are crossed and our “I’s” are dotted in making sure all these vaccination records are in and have been fine-combed through to make sure everything is in compliance, Rabbi Hanoch Hecht told ABC News this weekend. Hecht is the director of Camp Emunah girls’ camp in Ulster County, operated by the Chabad-Lubavitch National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) based in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood.
“In the past, where we’ve accepted religious exemptions for certain things, now we cannot,” Hecht said. The rabbi added that he is also getting a blood test to check his own immunity.
In Crown Heights, girls Day Camps Bnos Menachem and Bais Rivkah have both mandated the MMR vaccine for all campers.
This past Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation to eliminate the exemption for those who decline to vaccinate themselves or their children based on religious grounds.
Two more yeshivas were closed in Brooklyn that same day for failure to comply with the New York City Health Department order to bar unvaccinated students and adults from entering the schools. A total of 12 city schools have been closed for violating the measles vaccination order, all of them Jewish.
Good
Excellent
Why just MMR? There are plenty other vaccine preventable diseases. The measles outbreak didnt start from someone unvaccinated which shows this measure is pointless. This also goes to show that by not confirming immunity to all vaccines, other diseases might come their way.. not wise, not wise. Its either all or nothing.
As a child of the 50’s I’ve had all the childhood diseases and they were miserable. It’s good to see what some are doing to try to make summer camps safer places health wise. Let’s hope that others follow suit.
I think that is a good thing.
Visiting day?!
i dont think its fair for us parents to have to deal with this.i think all camps should do the same thing.IF YOU DONT VACCINATE STAY HOME no one needs to sufer because of you.thank you to camp emunah,bais rivkah and bnos menachem for starting the chain.
THANK YOU!!
Today is religious exemption vs. violation, tomorrow it’s bris in hospital by doctor vs. religious mohel.
It is not their rules, this is mandated by New York State
The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results will justify the performance of the experiment. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury. No experiment should… Read more »
They lost a few counsellors bc of this too. Anyone looking for a summer job?