https://www.wired.com/story/new-york-vaccine-order-shows-how-health-laws-are-failing-us/

On Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with its latest measles numbers, and let’s be honest, they weren’t great. At least 465 cases across 19 states have been reported nationwide so far this year, including 78 in the last week alone. Nationwide, that means more people have caught the notoriously contagious disease in the past three and a half months than all of last year. According to the CDC, it’s the “second greatest number of cases reported in the US since measles was eliminated in 2000.” As outbreaks continue to spike around the country, local governments are increasingly feeling pressure to do something about them.

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency in Brooklyn, and issued mandatory measles vaccine requirements for people living in or near Williamsburg, the neighborhood where an outbreak has infected 285 people since last fall. Affected individuals were told they have 48 hours to get immunized; those who don’t comply risk receiving tickets or possibly facing fines of $1,000.