It must be election season!
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) on Friday declared a polio emergency.
Hochul’s polio emergency order will expand her state’s vaccination efforts after the virus was detected in wastewater systems.
NY health officials are urging people to get vaccinated against polio, a disabling, paralytic virus that can infect a person’s spinal chord.
“Polio immunization is safe and effective – protecting nearly all people against disease who receive the recommended doses. Do not wait to vaccinate,” Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said in a statement.
The New York Post reported:
Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered an emergency expansion of the state’s polio vaccination efforts Friday after scientists detected the crippling and potentially deadly virus in Long Island wastewater.
The latest test results, announced on Friday, add Nassau County to the list of locales on alert for potential spread of the dangerous disease amid a resurgence enabled by low vaccination rates in children.
“On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice,” said the state’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett, in a statement. “If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccinations, the risk of paralytic disease is real.”
The governor’s emergency order aims to bolster the state’s vaccination effort by making it easier for parents to get children vaccinated without needing to see a doctor. Now, pharmacists, paramedics and midwives will be able to dispense the vaccine, too.
Public health officials have also spotted the virus in the wastewater systems in New York City and in upstate communities, including Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties.
