Tag Archives: anti-vax

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The California Senate was forced from its chamber and halted work for more than three hours on the final day of its session after an opponent of mandatory childhood vaccinations poured what appeared to be blood on lawmakers from the gallery Friday evening. Stunned lawmakers left the chamber and security officers cleared the gallery and …

Gothamist reports: New York City’s biggest measles outbreak in nearly 30 years, which predominantly sickened ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents of Williamsburg and Borough Park, has ended. According to Health Department officials, 42 days, or two consecutive incubation periods for the highly contagious virus have passed, allowing the city to declare itself measles-free. The last recorded infection was in mid-July. An emergency …

The Los Angeles Times reports: An anti-vaccine activist was cited for assault by the Sacramento Police Department on Wednesday after he livestreamed a physical confrontation with state Sen. Richard Pan, author of legislation to restrict vaccine exemptions. Pan, a Democrat from Sacramento, was pushed from behind by Kenneth Austin Bennett [photo], who challenged the senator in the 2018 primary but …

The Associated Press reports: Britain’s government is planning to pressure social media companies to do more to fight misinformation on vaccines following a spike in measles cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that while the country had a great record on fighting measles, things were suddenly “going in the wrong direction,” with 230 new measles cases in the first …

The Daily Beast reports: A Pentagon cybersecurity contractor has been charged with threatening to kill a member of Congress over the introduction of a bill that would require public schools to vaccinate children, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Maryland. Darryl Albert Varnum of Westminster, Maryland called the congressperson—identified only as “congressperson …

The Hudson Journal News reports: Dozens of plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit in state Supreme Court arguing a newly enacted law that ended the religious exemption for vaccinations in New York violates their religious beliefs. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, comes just weeks after a contentious vote by lawmakers approving the end of religious exemptions for vaccinations in the …

The Washington Post reports: A wealthy Manhattan couple has emerged as significant financiers of the anti-vaccine movement, contributing more than $3 million in recent years to groups that stoke fears about immunizations online and at live events — including two forums this year at the epicenter of measles outbreaks in New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Hedge fund manager and philanthropist …

CBS New York reports: In response to one of the worst outbreaks of measles in a generation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed off on legislation that now ends religious exemptions for vaccinations in New York. New York state senators passed the bill Thursday evening and the governor quickly signed off on the measure. Since the beginning of June, there have …

The Daily Beast reports: Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist whose recent work has focused increasingly on baseless allegations that vaccines are unsafe and can injure a statistically minuscule population of “medically fragile” children, appeared at the California State Assembly beside an unlikely scene partner: actress Jessica Biel. In a series of Instagram posts, first reported in Jezebel …

The New York Daily News reports: Rabbi Hillel Handler enjoyed a rare moment in the glare of mainstream media this week when he addressed an anti-vaccination crowd in a heavily Hasidic town in suburban Rockland County. The member of the Satmar Hasidic sect riled up the crowd of a couple of hundreds of people with a diatribe that accused liberals …

New Scientist reports: Instagram is cracking down on misinformation about vaccinations by blocking hashtags that include verifiably false information about the subject. Phase one of the crackdown involved removing hashtags promoting overt medical misinformation about vaccines — such as #VaccinesCauseAutism or #VaccinesCauseAIDS, both of which have been debunked by leading public health organizations. Now, Instagram says it is looking to …

USA Today reports: Authorities in Curacao say 318 people aboard a Church of Scientology ship docked in the Dutch Caribbean island will remain quarantined until they determine how many might be infected with measles. Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth said that a team of health officials took 277 blood samples and sent them to the Netherlands. He said he expects results on …

The Sacramento Bee reports: Hundreds of vaccine-skeptical families crammed into the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon where they battled a bill that would give the state authority over whether children receive medical exemptions for mandatory vaccines. The massive crowd lined up for nearly four hours to oppose Senate Bill 276, authored by state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, at a hearing in …

The Associated Press reports: U.S. measles cases have climbed to their highest level in 25 years, largely because misinformation is turning parents against vaccines. New York City health officials on Wednesday reported 61 new cases since late last week. According to an Associated Press count, that pushes this year’s national tally past the 667 cases reported for all of 2014. …

STAT News reports: President Trump’s absence in the national conversation about the measles outbreaks has prompted some debate in the public health community about whether he should be playing a more active role. For some observers, though, the question is not whether public officials should be supporting vaccinations, but rather whether a president who has previously spread false information linking …

Roll Call reports: Most Republicans are rejecting Democrat-led state bills to tighten childhood immunization laws in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in two decades, alarming public health experts who fear the nation could become as divided over vaccines as it is over global warming. Democrats in six states — Colorado, Arizona, New Jersey, Washington, New York and Maine …

The New York Daily News reports: A group of anti-vaccination proponents claim city officials overstepped their bounds — and violated their religious beliefs — by imposing an emergency order last week making measles vaccinations mandatory, according to a lawsuit filed early Monday. The five parents, who filed anonymously in Brooklyn Supreme Court, brought the case against the Department of Health …

Media Matters reports: Herman Cain, President Donald Trump’s pick for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, took money to promote the newsletter of an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. Cain also sent sponsored emails suggesting that the government is forcing citizens to take “7 deadly drugs” and that former first lady Nancy Reagan’s “desperate fight to cure Alzheimer’s disease” may be …

The New York Daily News reports: Mayor de Blasio declared a public health emergency over the measles outbreak in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community, mandating vaccinations for people living in Williamsburg zip codes to stem the crisis. People found not to be vaccinated could result in fines up to $1000. “There’s no question that vaccines are safe, effective and life-saving,” said …

The Daily Beast reports: New York City health officials announced a new crackdown Monday on yeshivas in a Brooklyn neighborhood that are letting unvaccinated students attend school in the midst of a major measles crisis. The Health Department had already ordered Jewish academies in certain zip codes to send home children who are not fully immunized, but some of the …