Tag: Kate Tietje

Did New York Declare Medical Martial Law over a Measles Outbreak?

You have to admire anti-vaccine folks for one thing, they are consistent.

Well, actually, no.

Admire is the wrong word…

Did New York Declare Medical Martial Law over a Measles Outbreak?

As most folks know, Rockland County Executive Ed Day made an emergency declaration banning unvaccinated kids from public places.

I guess because he was anticipating a freak-out from anti-vaccine folks, he went out of his way to say that the emergency declaration does not mean that law enforcement will be asking for vaccine records and that they are just trying to get the attention of parents, some of whom weren’t cooperating when their kids were sick.

So what was the reaction?

About as you would expect…

Martial law?

Medical martial law? An emergency declaration saying you will get a class B misdemeanor if your unvaccinated kid goes to the mall is the same thing as martial law? Ordinary laws have been suspended and the military is taking over?

If you listened to the press conference, the problem isn’t really that we need new laws, it is that some folks aren’t cooperating with existing ones. Again, in the middle of the longest outbreak in recent history, some parents who have kids sick with measles aren’t talking to health department officials who simply want to control and stop the outbreak.

What else is wrong with the Natural News post?

Of course, it is the stuff about shedding and “improperly weakened viral strains.”

In truth, measles outbreaks are started when unvaccinated folks travel out of the country, get measles, and bring it back to a community with a lot of other unvaccinated people. And tragically, sometimes folks who are too young to be vaccinated or who have true medical contraindications to getting vaccinated get caught up in these outbreaks.

Did they listen to the press conference? When did he say that they would be going door-to-door?

Hillary Simpson telling folks in New York to riot.

Is it actually legal to tell folks to riot and incite them to open civil disobedience?

Kate Tietje calling for open civil disobedience.

Surpriginsly, most went to straight to comments about Hitler and concentration camps.

It is offensive to compare the emergency declaration in Rockland county to putting people in concentration camps.
It is offensive to compare the emergency declaration in Rockland county to putting people in concentration camps.

This is the modern anti-vaccine movement.

These are the leaders and heroes of the anti-vaccine movement.

Larry Cook on the emergency ban in Rockland County.

To be clear, rabbis in the community have been telling folks to get vaccinated and protected!

“Whoever isn’t vaccinated is a murderer” reads a rabbinic letter recently signed by leading charedi rabbis in Israel, according to Yeshiva World News. The kol koreh was distributed after a spread of Measles in the ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel and around the world. Earlier this month an unvaccinated infant died, and more than 1300 people have been infected with a preventable disease. The Gedolim who signed the Kol Koreh include: Rav Yitzchak Silberstein, Rav Shimon Ba’adani, Rav Sriel Rosenberg, Rav Moshe Shaul Klein Rav Menachem Mendel Lubin.

As Measles Spread, Leading Charedi Rabbis Come Out Strongly Against Anti-Vaxxers

I wonder what the people in these communities would think of all of this holocaust imagery that anti-vaccine folks are using to try and keep the outbreaks going?

The National Vaccine Information Center is exploiting a photo of five year old Avram Rosenthal and his two year old brother Emanuel of the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania. Both boys were later deported to the death camp at Majdanek where they were murdered.
This is a photo of five year old Avram Rosenthal and his two year old brother Emanuel of the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania. Both boys were later deported to the death camp at Majdanek where they were murdered. Why is it being used in an article about measles outbreaks?

It is very clear that this is not about religion.

“The Orthodox Union (OU) and the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) strongly urge all parents to vaccinate their healthy children on the timetable recommended by their pediatrician.”

Statement on Vaccinations from the OU and Rabbinical Council of America

People in these communities have been misled and misinformed by anti-vaccine propaganda.

How about we make folks who push anti-vaccine misinformation wear dunce caps?
How about dunce caps on folks who push anti-vaccine misinformation?

Don’t let them make it worse.

More on the Emergency Declaration in Rockland County

The Rockland County Emergency Declaration

As their measles outbreak enters its six month, Rockland County health officials are making a big move to prevent more cases – an emergency declaration banning unvaccinated kids from public places.

Not surprisingly, anti-vaccine folks are reacting as you would expect.

The Rockland County Emergency Declaration

So what’s in this emergency declaration?

Does it force parents to vaccinate their kids, as anti-vaccine folks have been warning us about? Does it quarantine unvaccinated kids in their homes?

It must be pretty outrageous if folks are willing to basically incite others to riot, right?

“Every action we have taken, since the beginning of this outbreak has been designed to by the department of health of Rockland County in conjunction with the state department of health to do two things, maximize vaccinations and minimize exposures. We are taking today the next step in that endeavor… In order to prevent any more children from falling ill from this deadly disease, I am today declaring a county wide state of emergency. Effective at the stroke of midnight tonight, March 27, anyone who is under 18 years of age and is unvaccinated against the measles will be barred from public places until the declaration expire in thirty days or until they receive at least their first shot of MMR.”

Ed Day, Rockland County Executive

The emergency declaration:

  • exempts those with a medical contraindication to getting vaccinated
  • does not mean that law enforcement will be asking for vaccine records
  • does mean that your case will be referred to the District Attorney if you are in violation (class B misdemeanor) – your child is in a public place without at least one dose of MMR
  • holds parents accountable if they are in violation
  • exempts homes
  • exempts many public places, like streets and parks

So basically, the emergency declaration supports what the health department is already doing to end the outbreak and will hopefully get the attention of those who are keeping the outbreak going.

Are they out to arrest people?

No.

“We owe this to the residents of this great county so that we never ever have to go through this again. This is an opportunity for everyone in their community to do the right thing for their neighbors and come together. That’s what this is about now. We must do everything in our power to end this outbreak and protect the health of those who can not be vaccinated for medical reasons and those children too young to be vaccinated and also those who are risk…”

Ed Day, Rockland County Executive

They are trying to get their attention and educate them.

“Get your children vaccinated.”

Ed Day, Rockland County Executive

Vaccines are safe, with few risks, and are necessary.

Let’s stop the outbreaks.

The Rockland County Emergency Declaration