New York Declares State of Emergency Amid Polio Circulation

Facts

• On Fri., NY Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency over a polio outbreak after 57 samples of the virus were detected in sewage in Rockland, Sullivan, and Nassau counties between May and August.
• The governor's order allows more health providers - including EMS workers, midwives, and pharmacists - to administer the polio vaccine, as well as requires vaccine administrators to send data to the state health department.
• The emergency declaration is focused on boosting vaccination rates, which, as of early August, stand at 79.15% in Nassau, 58.68% in Orange, and 60.34% in Rockland county.
• The order comes nearly two months after the first case of a person actually contracting the disease was reported in Rockland county in July.
• Most of the samples collected were found in Rockland county, with 50 of them genetically linked to the first case of the Rockland resident.
• Polio was effectively eradicated in the US in the 1970s due to mass vaccinations, though New York's vaccine rate - which currently stands at 79%, failing to meet the goal of 90% - remains low, despite a 2019 law aimed at rejecting religious exemptions.

Sources: New York Times, Newsweek, Forbes, and New York Post.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The New Yorker. In a world where most diseases are not eradicable, the fact that so many New Yorkers still refuse to get the polio vaccine is baffling. The disease can and already is spreading rapidly and quietly throughout the state, serving as another stark warning as to why vaccination is so important.
• Narrative B, as provided by Reason. Vaccines are a personal choice, and governments should not be able to mandate what individuals choose to do with their health. If people choose not to get vaccinated for any disease, that is a valid choice that must be accepted. Personal freedoms are part of America's ethos.

Predictions