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A Brooklyn judge has confirmed the emergency order of the city's health department, forcing residents of certain areas of Williamsburg or bordering to be vaccinated against measles or to pay a fine.
Judge Lawrence Knipel ranked the case in the Kings County Supreme Court by five mothers who said that the city's actions were disproportionate to the threat posed by measles and that they were n & # 39; They had not taken into account "individual autonomy, informed consent and the free exercise of religion".
The city's health department has announced it has confirmed 359 cases of measles until Thursday, of which 294 were diagnosed in Williamsburg. The disease is particularly severe on young children in Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn.
"The absolute truth is that these diagnoses represent the most significant increase in the incidence of measles in the United States for many years and that the Brooklyn section in Williamsburg is at its epicenter," writes Knipel in his decision .
The city's health department clarified its decision stating that it would impose civil penalties on offenders, but that it would not prosecute. Knipel wrote that, as the city had conceded that the order did not require forced vaccination, he would not treat it in his decision.
"A firefighter does not need to get the owner's informed consent before extinguishing a fire.The vaccine is known to extinguish the fire of a contagion," Knipel wrote.
Knipel did not accept the applicants' arguments that the vaccine posed a higher risk than measles itself.
"These claims are absolutely unsupported by studies, medical literature, law and regulations," he wrote.
The decision paves the way for the city to continue enforcing its order. The Ministry of Health announced Thursday that it had issued three civil summonses to enforce its order.
"This decision will protect New Yorkers from a very dangerous infection with potentially fatal consequences. We did not take the order of urgency lightly. This is a dramatic response to a serious problem, "Dr Oxiris Barbot, Health Commissioner, said Thursday evening.
Those who receive a summons must attend a hearing, where an investigating officer may impose a fine of $ 1,000 on the person. Not to appear will cost $ 2,000.
In addition, four other schools and kindergartens will be closed for non-compliance with the order. They are located at 68-84 Harrison Ave., 241 Keap St., 590 Bedford Ave. and 720 Wythe Ave.
The Ministry of Health announced that it had allowed the Talmudical United Academy, located at 75 Ross Street, to reopen Thursday after the city closed Tuesday for failing to put on available the vaccination book of the students. The department will continue to monitor the school.
An Israeli flight attendant, who, according to health officials, received the vaccine while he was a child, was in a coma with encephalitis after contracting measles, reported CNN Thursday. The 43-year-old woman works for El Al and it is not known if she caught the disease in New York or Israel, or if she was flying between the two destinations.
"We do not want to commit violations but we will continue and hope that New Yorkers will make the best choice for their families, neighbors and their own health: getting vaccinated," said Barbot.
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