5,000+ Polio Vaccines Administered Countywide
As of Tuesday, 5,064 polio vaccines have been administered in Rockland since a confirmed case of Polio was detected in a local resident, signaling work by the Rockland County Department of Health (RCDOH), New York State Health Department (NYSDOH) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to boost immunizations is working.
The age breakdown of the 5,064 polio vaccinations is:
0 to 4 77.2%
5 to 18 13.8%
19 to 64 5.0%
65 and up 4.0%
Only vaccinations of those 18 and under are regularly mandated to be reported into NYSIIS. The Executive Order issued by Governor Kathy Hochul on September 9, 2022, now requires all health care providers to report polio vaccinations for people 19 and older to NYSIIS as well.
Those who are fully immunized are at low risk and the focus remains getting those unvaccinated or behind on their 4-dose polio vaccine series up to date with the vaccination, particularly infants and preschool-aged children, because transmission of this disease only happens if overall vaccination rates remain low.
Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) which is administered in the U.S., is safe and effective and will not cause polio. You can schedule to receive the IPV at our Health Department clinic in Pomona on Mondays and Wednesdays by clicking here. Anyone who needs assistance scheduling an appointment can call the RCDOH at 845-238-1956.
New York State’s recent Executive Order expands who can administer Polio vaccines to include EMS workers, Midwives & Pharmacists. This move follows the detection of poliovirus in Nassau County, in addition to positive wastewater results in Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, and NYC. This indicates that poliovirus is circulating in these communities. The single paralytic strain that caused the case in Rockland originated overseas from an individual who received the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which hasn’t been administered in the U.S. since 2000. NYSDOH confirms this polio case is linked to strains in wastewater samples found in Israel and the UK, as far back as February.
The County of Rockland is distributing a second round of flyers this week urging families to get vaccinated against polio in four different languages, following more than 5,000 flyers already distributed last month. In addition to this, the RCDOH is having ongoing conversations with local health providers, which families trust, to boost immunizations. As the investigation continues, we implore families to get vaccinated now.
