We wrote the state of New York reported the first polio case since 2013, and wastewater samples from New York City indicated genetically similar samples were present in the wastewater.
Now, as another New York county reports polio virus in sewage samples, Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency.
The governor’s declaration came the same day local authorities on Long Island said recent testing of wastewater in Nassau County turned up positive traces of the polio virus. That county joins Rockland, Orange and Sullivan in detecting the virus in sewage samples.Broadening the state’s vaccination efforts is a cornerstone of the emergency order. The declaration expands vaccine administrators to include pharmacists, midwives and EMS workers, Hochul’s press release said. The order also requires healthcare providers to pass along immunization data to aid the health department’s oversight.“On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said Friday. “If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccinations, the risk of paralytic disease is real.”The Nassau County executive planned to hold a briefing Friday afternoon following the recent testing of wastewater that turned up positive traces of the polio virus.
The declaration is not being issued because anyone else has been reported to have contracted polio, even in its more severe form. It allows more flexibility in administering the vaccine and equips public health officials to prevent more infections.
The order allows emergency service workers, midwives and pharmacists to administer the polio vaccine. The declaration also requires health care providers to send polio immunization data to New York health officials so that they can determine where in the state to target vaccination efforts….Officials said they wanted to see the polio vaccination rate rise above 90 percent. State data counts children who have received three polio immunizations before their second birthday as vaccinated.Polio can cause mild or flulike symptoms, but the disease can also be disabling and life-threatening. It mainly affects infants and children under 5, but anyone who is unvaccinated can contract it. Polio is contagious and spreads from person to person, typically through contact with the fecal matter of someone who is infected. There is no cure for polio but widespread vaccination has proved effective.
However, the declaration allows Hochul to distract from some infectious disease failures. To begin with, there are still, on average, seven covid deaths daily in the state, despite all the lockdowns, mandates, masking, and other regulatory inanity implemented by state and local officials.
Recent drama has also been about new, mask-optional policies on New York City subways, buses, and regional trains.
The messages, in MTA’s trademark yellow, urged people to respect anyone wearing a mask, or choosing not to — and also gave a jokey thumbs-up to improperly worn masks, incensing New Yorkers and health experts who saw it as a thumb in the eye to people who endured being an early global epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.”Whoever designed your poster should be fired. It’s public endangerment and mask misinformation!!” said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist, in replying to MTA’s tweet about the change.Critics of the new policy say it puts immunocompromised people at risk. They maintain that it’s too early to drop masking mandates, noting that omicron and its BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants recently spurred the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to urge people to get new booster shots
Additionally, New York City has been a hot spot for monkeypox. The city reported nearly 3,000 cases from mid-May by the end of August and is touting vaccination appointment openings.
New York City is continuing to expand access to the monkeypox vaccine, opening a brand new site in the Bronx Friday as it plans to release another 16,000 appointment openings, including for second doses.The new vaccination clinic in Tremont is for first-dose walk-ins only and will be able to serve up to 100 people a day, city health officials say. It is located at 1826 Arthur Avenue, Bronx, NY 10457, and its hours of operation are Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. Health officials said they’d work with community-based groups on referrals.All city-run monkeypox vaccination sites are open on a walk-in basis for those needing first doses, though health officials recommend people make appointments. Appointments must be made for second doses, officials said, and right now, those are only available to people who were first dosed on or before July 23.
As there have been nine years between polio cases, I suspect there will be no significant polio outbreak this year and that Hochul will point to this as a victory in her upcoming campaign to keep her seat.
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