A suburban county north of New York City is banning anyone under the age of 18 who is not vaccinated from public areas.
Rockland County officials and community leaders declared a state of emergency as they combat a severe measles outbreak that is now in its 26th week, local news station, WPIX, reported. In the declaration, unvaccinated children are barred from entering public spaces for 30 days – the duration of the emergency declaration – or until they receive the MMR vaccination.
An executive order was issued and will go into effect Wednesday at midnight.
There have been 153 confirmed cases of measles in Rockland County as of Tuesday, according to County Executive Ed Day, and 84 percent of those cases were found in “young people.”
[Related: CDC confirms 314 cases of measles so far in 2019]
“This type of response is unacceptable and frankly irresponsible,” Day said of those who have still refused to vaccinate their children or get vaccinated despite the ongoing outbreak.
Even though police will not ask residents for vaccination records, parents who violate the state of emergency declaration could face six months in jail and a $500 fine.
“We are urging them to get their children vaccinated,” Day said. “We will not sit idly by while children in our community are at risk.”
[Opinion: Treat anti-vaxxers like the dangerous conspiracy theorists they are]
