New York City’s health department last week ordered all ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools in a neighborhood of Brooklyn to exclude unvaccinated students from classes during the current measles outbreak.
Any yeshiva in Williamsburg that does not comply will face fines and possible closure.
Officials say 285 cases have been confirmed in New York City since the beginning of the outbreak in October. Most cases have been reported from Williamsburg and Borough Park—two Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish populations, in which vaccination rates tend to be lower.
New York City accounted for about two-thirds of all U.S. measles cases reported the week of April 1. But areas outside the city are also seeing a surge in cases.
A state judge issued a preliminary injunction against a neighboring county’s emergency order banning children from public places unless they’ve been vaccinated against measles. Rockland County had enacted the 30-day emergency order to fight a measles outbreak that has infected at least 166 people since October. Rockland’s outbreak has most heavily affected Orthodox Jewish communities.
