On Thursday, New York legislature passed a bill putting an end to the state’s policy which allows for religious exemptions from vaccine requirements, Buzzfeed News reported.
The new ban means parents can no longer refuse to vaccinate their children on religious grounds, leading to mass outrage from anti-vaxxers throughout the state.
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Now, this law requires all children attending school or daycare to be vaccinated.
Now the only exception is if the child cannot be safely vaccinated because of a medical issue.
Officials have declared the measles outbreak a crisis which risks the safety of the public, particularly hose most vulnerable to disease — infants, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems, like cancer patients.
New York is currently at the center of the country’s worst measles outbreak in decades.
Since September, the state has reported 854 cases of measles, largely located in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City and Rockland County.
Both areas have recorded lower rates of vaccination than the general population, largely due to suspicion of outside interference and the closed-nature of the societies, allowing for the spread of false rumors and misinformation.
In an effort to combat this, rabbis in both areas have been attempting to encourage followers to vaccinate their children.
However, even this hasn’t helped slow or see an end to the outbreak. In fact, so-called vaccine symposiums featuring speakers encouraging people to refuse vaccinations have been drawing crowds of thousands in these areas, the New York Times reported.
Opponents to the bill have argued that it infringes on religious and constitutional rights.
Most US states allow for parents to opt out of vaccinating their children because of personal or religious beliefs, but the massive measles outbreak being felt throughout the nation has led many states to consider changing their policies.
While the state debated passing the ban Thursday night, protesters gathered outside the Capitol.
Many objectors of the ban brought their children with them to rally against its passing. Once news hit the crowd that the bill had indeed been passed, the scene turned chaotic .
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz who sponsored the bill was at the center of the crowd’s hate and was even threatened by protesters after it was passed.
“We’ll be back for you Jeffrey!” one man, dressed in Orthodox religious garb, shouted.
In response to the hate he received, Dinowitz said he hoped anti-vaxxers would “calm down” and be more “civilized.”
“I don’t ever remember in all my years here, the screaming in the Assembly chamber and the disruption in the Assembly chamber,” he said, adding that it’s fine for people to scream outside, but not to disrespect him, the institution, or the members of the state.
“And these are religious people?!” he exclaimed. “Shame on them. Shame on them.”
Governor Andrew Cumo, who immediately signed the bill into law, said he understands “freedom of religion.”
“I do. We all do. We respect it,” he said. “I’ve heard the anti-vaxxers’ theory, but I believe both are overwhelmed by the public health risk.”
In 2016, following a massive measles outbreak at Disneyland, California banned religious vaccine exemptions.
Since then, the state has reported a significant increase in vaccinations with 97.3 percent of the region’s kindergarteners reported receiving the measles vaccine in 2017 This was up from the 92.6 percent reported prior to the Disneyland outbreak.
h/t: Buzzfeed News , New York Post
