Board of Health President: Get the Measles Vaccine

In a Letter to the Editor Tuesday night, President of the Westfield Board of Health Lawrence Budnick urged Westfield residents to take the growing Measles epidemic seriously and vaccinate children to prevent the highly contagious disease from spreading.

“Measles is now epidemic and increasing in the country. Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination prevents this highly communicable virus from spreading. To protect the children in Westfield, all those who can be vaccinated with the MMR vaccine should be vaccinated. The Department of Health provides MMR vaccine, as well as varicella (chickenpox), tetanus and other vaccines, through our Vaccines for Children program at no charge for any child who is uninsured or underinsured.”

>> Related: WATCH: Critics Pounce On Christie For Measles Comments ... And Snow

Controversy over the Measles vaccine has become an increasingly heated issue across the country.

The CDC has reported 100 confirmed Measles cases so far this year, with most connected to the December Disneyland outbreak, where 94 were infected, with 67 cases clearly linked to Disneyland, California.

The letter from the Westfield Board of Health arrived just days after critics first spoke out against Governor Christie’s call for balance in vaccine usage, which was expressed in a statement advocating for parental choice in the decision to vaccinate.

Liberals and conservatives have spoken out against the Governor’s statement suggesting that parents don’t need to vaccinate their children.

“Disappointing that Gov. Christie, so well known for real talk, hedges on vaccines,” said Gabriel Malor, a conservative writer, on Twitter.

Getting Vaccinated In Westfield

For more information on the Measles vaccine, or to schedule an appointment to get vaccinated in Westfield, contact Laura Scanlon, RN, the Public Health Nursing Supervisor, at 908-789-4070, extension 4074, or lscanlon@westfieldnj.gov.

>> Related: Letter to the Editor: Town-Wide Health Updates From the Westfield Board of Health

Information about all of the Department’s activities is available on its website. The next scheduled meeting will be on March 2, starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building. At that meeting, we will discuss our goals for 2015. As always, the public is invited to attend.

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