--- title: NYC Declares Public Health Emergency Over Measles Outbreak description: New York City officials declared a state of emergency related to an ongoing measles outbreak among Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community. canonical: https://time.com/5566699/new-york-city-measles-emergency/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-09T16:35:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:27:30.464Z article:section: Health og:title: New York City Declares Public Health Emergency In the Face of an Intensifying Measles Outbreak og:description: Some Williamsburg residents must get vaccinated og:url: https://time.com/5566699/new-york-city-measles-emergency/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt450f350075f0bfe7/698947f7b3fce375ef0c36ac/measles-new-york-city.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-HEALTH-RELIGION-VACCINES-MEASLES og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New York City Declares Public Health Emergency In the Face of an Intensifying Measles Outbreak twitter:description: Some Williamsburg residents must get vaccinated twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt450f350075f0bfe7/698947f7b3fce375ef0c36ac/measles-new-york-city.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New York City Declares Public Health Emergency In the Face of an Intensifying Measles Outbreak > Sponsored content. 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Apr 9, 2019 4:35 PM UTC TIME Ideas: Why You Should Absolutely Get Vaccinated  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Apr 9, 2019 4:35 PM UTC New York City officials on Tuesday ordered residents at the center of an ongoing measles outbreak to get vaccinated or face fines up to $1,000, in the latest dramatic move by officials attempting to stop measles outbreaks that are spreading across the country. Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot, announced a public health emergency related to the measles outbreak at a press conference Tuesday. “This is an unusual action, and it’s because of the sheer extent of the crisis,” de Blasio said. There have been 285 confirmed cases of measles since October 2018\. The majority of cases have been among members of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community, primarily in parts of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg and Borough Park neighborhoods. As part of the emergency order, all residents of four Williamsburg zip codes — 11205, 11206, 11211 and 11249 — must be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella if they are not already. Those found to be in violation of the order could face up to a $1,000 fine, officials said. Roughly 1,800 children in Williamsburg remain unvaccinated, Barbot said during the press conference. She added that the city will help unprotected individuals secure affordable and accessible vaccination, and emphasized that vaccination is safe and effective. > [](https://twitter.com/NYCHealthCommr/status/1115628101772484609) The order comes a day after [the city announced](http://time.com/5541872/brooklyn-measles-outbreak/) that yeshivas in parts of Brooklyn that allow unvaccinated children to attend school could face fines or potential school closures — and just a few days after a judge halted a similar emergency order in New York’s Rockland County. In Rockland, officials declared a countywide state of emergency related to measles, and banned unvaccinated children from visiting public places. A [judge halted that ban](http://time.com/5558943/rockland-county-measles-emergency/) last week. While de Blasio did not comment on the situation in Rockland, he said he is confident that New York City’s emergency order is an appropriate use of power. “This is about one neighborhood, and the focus is on tracing folks who have been exposed,” he said. “This is very pinpointed, very localized, and I think very appropriate.” Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that can result in symptoms such as cough, fever, runny nose and rash; in severe cases, it can lead to hospitalization or, rarely, death. The disease can be prevented through vaccination. Outside of New York City and Rockland County, measles outbreaks are underway in the Pacific Northwest, California, New Jersey and Michigan. Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 465 cases of measles in 19 states so far this year, [putting the U.S. on pace](http://time.com/5566055/2019-measles-case-count/) for the most measles cases since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. ## Transcript [00:00] I'm Jeffrey Kluger, editor at large, for TIME magazine and [00:04] I'm here to argue the hard truth that vaccines are safe, [00:09] effective, and save lives, full stop. [ MUSIC ] [00:15] There are people who disagree with those facts, who [00:18] believe that vaccines are unsafe. Unnecessary and that [00:22] their dangers are being covered up by a conspiracy of [00:26] silence between the pharmaceutical industry and the [00:29] government. Non of these, not a syllable [00:33] of it is true, here is why. First of all, it [00:38] bears repeating. Vaccines do not cause autism. [00:42] They never have, they never will. That initial misconception [00:47] was traced to a fraudulent 1998 study [00:52] by British doctor Andrew Wakefield. The study as later [00:56] retracted and Wakefield was stripped of his license to [01:00] practice medicine in the UK. It is true that autism [01:04] rates have risen in recent decades, but that's not because [01:08] more children are developing the condition It's simply [01:12] because we're diagnosing it better, more sensitively [01:16] and more liberally. vaccines like all drugs [01:20] have potential side effects. And as with all drugs, nobody is [01:24] hiding those side effects. The centers for disease control [01:28] lists all possible side effects of all possible vaccines [01:33] readily on it's web site. Most of those side effects are minor. [01:38] The few that aren't are so rare that it's not even possible [01:42] to link them conclusively to the vaccines. One [01:46] other thing no one's hiding are the ingredients in vaccines. [01:51] All of the package inserts for all vaccines are also [01:56] readily available online. If you read the packaging search [02:00] you will see that yes vaccines are stuffed with chemicals. [02:05] All medications are stuffed with chemicals all foods are [02:08] made of chemicals. You and I are made of chemicals. [02:12] Chemicals are essential for life. They do not have to [02:17] be bad. If generations of medical history have taught us [02:21] anything, it's that vaccinating children does not lead [02:25] to illness and death. It's not vaccinating children [02:29] that does that. Parents who opt out of vaccines do [02:34] it out of love. Do it because they think that's [02:38] the best way to protect their children. But that protection [02:42] comes from vaccinating, not from opting out of [02:46] vaccines. 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