New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered on Tuesday that unvaccinated residents of several areas of the city be forced to receive the measles vaccine, in an attempt to stem a resurgence of the disease, which is particularly strong in the community. Orthodox Jewess.
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The City has declared a state of health emergency in four areas located in the Williamsburg neighborhood, northwest of Brooklyn. All individuals “who may have been exposed to measles” must be vaccinated, under penalty of criminal prosecution and a fine of $ 1,000.
The municipality also warned that, still in these areas, day care centers for the Orthodox Jewish community as well as yeshivas, Talmudic schools, which would accept unvaccinated children would also be liable to criminal prosecution and even administrative closure.
Until now, New York State required a series of vaccinations to enter the school system, but granted exemptions on religious grounds.
Since October, 285 cases of measles have been recorded in New York, while the disease had all but disappeared in the United States, with only 86 sick nationwide in 2016, according to data from the Center for Disease Control.
Measles is a highly contagious disease that can cause medical complications and even death, although no deaths have been reported in New York since the start of this health crisis.
The resurgence of measles in New York, as in several other regions of the world, in Europe in particular, is attributed to the movement of mistrust towards vaccination, largely fueled by the Internet in general and on social networks in particular.
Neither religious texts nor Jewish authorities in New York City advise against vaccination.
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