4 More W'burg Schools Closed, 3 People Fined In Measles Outbreak

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — At least three families did not follow the city's orders to get measles vaccinations last week and could face $1,000 fines, the health department announced Thursday.

The parents of three unvaccinated children will be issued civil summonses for not complying with Mayor Bill de Blasio's public health emergency declaration last Tuesday, which required anyone who has not been vaccinated in certain zip codes to do so within 48 hours or face a $1,000 fine.

The parents of the unvaccinated children will be entitled to a hearing first, but will need to pay the $1,000 if the hearing officer upholds the summons, officials said. They could also be fined $2,000 if they do not show up at the hearing or respond to the summons.

Health officials also announced that they needed to shut down four more Williamsburg schools for not following vaccine orders, which require unvaccinated students not to return to school until the outbreak is over. As of this week, the outbreak has infected 329 people.

The updates come just a few days after United Talmudical Academy on Ross Street became the first childcare facility to be shut down for not following orders. 24 other yeshivas and day care programs at that time had been given violations.

The other four schools are found at 68-84 Harrison Ave., 241 Keap St., 590 Bedford Ave. and 720 Wythe Ave, health officials said.

Most of the measles cases so far were found in unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated people. 284 of the 329 cases so far were in those under 18 years old.

So far, nobody in Brooklyn has died from the disease, but 25 have been hospitalized and six were sent to the intensive care unit, the health department said.

The measles outbreak has also spread in Rockland County, where officials declared a state of emergency last month, and other places across the country. It has been linked to trips to Israel, which is currently suffering from a large outbreak, as well as the U.K. and the Ukraine.