New York records first measles death in 30 years — SkimNews
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- New York recorded its first measles death in 30 years when a child died in Lewis County, about 93 miles north of Syracuse, state officials announced Monday.
- U.S. stopped the domestic spread of measles in 2000 by maintaining high vaccination rates, but those rates have since fallen below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks.
- CDC confirmed three measles-associated deaths in the U.S. this year, while state health departments reported higher counts; Pennsylvania health officials reported five deaths and were investigating a possible sixth.
- Kathy Hochul called the death “a devastating reminder of what’s at stake when Washington deliberately erodes decades of progress in protecting Americans from preventable illnesses.”
- Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency in early October because of measles cases in neighboring states and rural New York, expanding the pool of vaccine administrators to include paramedics and midwives and letting nurses join doctors in ordering testing.
Why it matters: New York’s emergency order changed who can respond: paramedics, midwives and others are authorized to administer vaccines, while nurses can order testing alongside doctors. With vaccination coverage below the 95% outbreak-prevention threshold, those expanded authorities are already in place as the state confronts cases in rural New York and neighboring states.
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