A New York county has banned unvaccinated minors from entering public spaces for a month. This is the first such step taken by a county in the United States. Rockland County has imposed the ban as a drastic measure because of its ongoing measles outbreak. The ban is meant to help prevent the further spread of measles.
Rockland County executive Ed Day has announced that minors who are unvaccinated for measles will not be able to enter public spaces like restaurants for a month. The police won’t be tracking immunization statuses actively but parents of unvaccinated children who flout the ban do risk hefty fines and even possible jail time.
The ban applies to anyone under the age of 18 and unvaccinated for measles. The declaration expires in 30 days or until those minors receive their first shot of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. Children who are exempt from taking the vaccine due to medical reasons are exempt from the ban as well.
Day pointed out that this is the first time that a local government has issued a blanket ban in order to deal with an outbreak of disease that’s preventable by vaccines. The area has already had 153 confirmed cases of measles since last September and it is possible that more were not diagnosed.
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