New York Declares State Of Emergency As Measles Cases Spread Fast
It's becoming very apparent that we failed to learn a key lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic: infectious diseases aren't partisan; they will come for us all. While Donald Trump and RFK Jr. play their little partisan games over the measles outbreak, the disease is spreading. Spinning conspiracy theories, falsely claiming that the government has it all under control, or trying to hide the data that says otherwise doesn't stop measles. Vaccinations stop the measles.
That's why, while the focus recently has been on the outbreak in Pennsylvania that has resulted in 5 deaths, a disease like measles was never going to be bound by state borders. It's disappointing, but unsurprising, to see that New York has declared a statewide emergency due to measles infections as a result.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a statewide emergency on Monday over a measles outbreak spreading from Pennsylvania. It is the first time an emergency declaration has been issued since measles began surging in the U.S. in 2025.
No one should get seriously ill or die from a vaccine-preventable disease," Hochul said in a statement.
Indeed, but this is what Kennedy and the Trump administration hath wrought. Hochul paired the declaration with an executive order that expands what types of medical professionals can administer the MMR vaccine, and to whom. Now, pharmacists can inoculate the public, so long as they are at least 2 years old. The EO also requires that any administration of the vaccine must be reported to the state within three days, regardless of whether patients opt into that reporting or not.
I fully expect the MAHA goons to go kazoo over that last bit, but it's important for the state to have this data when they're trying to combat a disease as infectious and problematic as measles.
It's unlikely that New York will be the last state to have to do this sort of thing. For now, I guess we hold our breath until November to see if the government is reconfigured in a way that can finally put an end to Kennedy's profane reign at HHS.