New York City warned Brooklyn yeshivas to keep the order to exclude unvaccinated students from classes or face violations and possible closure.
The order, which includes yeshivas in Borough Park and Williamsburg, was issued in December 2018 and applied to students who were not vaccinated against measles. A Williamsburg yeshiva violating the order has been connected to over 40 measles cases.
“Any school out of compliance will immediately be issued a violation,” the health department said in a release Monday,
“Most of these measles cases were unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated individuals. There have been no deaths associated with this outbreak, although there have been complications, including 21 hospitalizations and five admissions to the intensive care unit.” Most of the measles patients are under 18 years of age.
Since October, Brooklyn has seen 285 measles cases, 246 of them children. According to New York’s Health Department, the outbreak began when an unvaccinated child contracted measles while visiting Israel.
“Since then, there have been additional people from Brooklyn and Queens who were unvaccinated and acquired measles while in Israel,” the department’s website said.
New York Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said, “As a pediatrician, I know the MMR vaccine is safe and effective.”
“This outbreak is being fueled by a small group of anti-vaxxers in these neighborhoods. They have been spreading dangerous misinformation based on fake science.
“We stand with the majority of people in this community who have worked hard to protect their children and those at risk.
“As Passover approaches, we need to do all we can to ensure more people get the vaccine.”
Sometimes we have to protect people from their own stupidity
There comes a time when the ignorance and willful negligence of a select few must be overridden for the protection of the masses. This craziness has to be stopped before herd immunity is lost and children all over New York and the rest of the country are put at risk. There is NO medical evidence whatsoever that vaccines are dangerous to the average child. The pushback against them is asinine, and it has already exposed thousands of kids to unnecessary risk. If people want to practice their pseudoscience thats fine, but if it starts affecting others the line has to… Read more »