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Measles legislation stalled in Assembly

May 09, 2019 1:45 pm
Nick Niedzwiadek and Shannon Young are reporting for Politico New York legislation to end non-medical exemptions for vaccinations remains in limbo, despite the ongoing measles outbreak. A meeting of Assembly Democrats May 6, failed to produce a decision on how to move forward. According to Politico, the majority of those who spoke during the Democratic conference supported the bill, but some qualified that support in various ways, especially over the issue of eliminating exemptions because of religious beliefs. Democrat Assembly member Jeffrey Dinowitz, of the Bronx, sponsor of the pending bill, said there was substantial support for the measure but it was not unanimous. "...I’m hopeful it will come for a vote soon,” Dinowitz said. New York has had more than 719 confirmed cases of measles — 466 of those cases were reported in New York City. The bulk of those cases were reported in parts of Brooklyn. Many of the Brooklyn cases have been found in the Orthodox Jewish community, which has fueled the effort to eliminate the religious exemption. Opponents of vaccination legislation met with lawmakers May 7, and demonstrated outside a Senate Health Committee meeting. The state Senate has yet to pass any legislation in response to the current outbreak. Read the full story in the Times Union.