Battling a fast-growing measles outbreak, New York City has declared an emergency and ordered mandatory vaccinations under threat of fine in a Brooklyn neighborhood where the disease is spreading.
New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced a public health emergency on Tuesday morning and ordered people living in four zip codes in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn to get the vaccine or face fines up to $1,000.
The city has also threatened to shut down yeshivas, or traditional Jewish religious schools, if they do not follow an order to keep unvaccinated children out of class.
There have been 285 cases of measles since the outbreak began in the fall, mostly in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and the number has more than doubled since February.
“We cannot allow this dangerous disease to make a comeback here in New York City. We have to stop it now,” De Blasio said on Tuesday in Brooklyn.
More details soon …
