Mandatory measles immunization orders in New York City trigger court action



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Five parents sued the New York City health department on Monday, saying the city had overstepped its powers by making vaccinations mandatory in neighborhoods affected by the measles outbreak.

The parents claimed that last week's orders violated the "religious exemptions granted to children" for immunization and their constitutional rights to due process. They also said that forcing vaccination could harm their children.

"The emergency orders clearly minimize the risk of MMR vaccine harm to MMR vaccine for children, adults and the general public, while overestimating the benefits," he said, inviting the Court. Supreme Court of New York to issue a temporary prohibition order. to stop the department of health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the MMR vaccine is 97% effective in protecting people against measles, a highly contagious disease. "The MMR vaccine is much safer than measles, mumps or rubella," said the CDC.

Calling the Department of Health's mandatory vaccination orders "unnecessary and disproportionate," the parents said the city had overstepped the severity of the epidemic.

"There were a lot fewer active measles cases than 250," the lawsuit said. "The number of active cases is insufficient to constitute an epidemic and does not justify the orders of emergency."

The number of measles cases in New York rose to 329 on Monday and the city expects this number to increase over the next 3 to 5 weeks. It is the largest measles epidemic in the city since 1991. The epidemic has spread mainly in the Orthodox Jewish community, where anti-vaccination literature has spread.

Last week, Dr Oxiris Barbot, a member of the New York Health Commission, issued an order prescribing vaccination in four postcodes in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where health officials could not stop an outbreak. of measles since its beginnings in October. Offenders to the order could be fined $ 1,000. The commissioner also ordered all yeshivas, Jewish religious schools and daycares to exclude unvaccinated children.

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Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio said Monday that he was not concerned about the legality of the rare order of urgency.

"We are very confident about our legal position," Blasio said, as reported by the New York Post. "When I announced it last Tuesday, I said that … it's something that the [city] The legal department is very attached to the fact that everything that has been done here fully respects our legal rights. "

Two weeks ago, a state Supreme Court justice quashed an emergency order in Rockland County banning unvaccinated children from fighting measles in schools and all public places . .

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The United States is currently experiencing the second-worst measles outbreak since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, largely because of the MMR vaccine. Health officials have since said that the recent rise in measles outbreaks across the country is due to misinformation transmitted by the anti-vaccination movement.

"Vaccines are the critical way to end this epidemic," said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor of Health and Social Services, in New York on Monday. "We are in an emergency situation."

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