Rockland Polio Vaccine Outreach Continues 6 Months After Man Paralyzed

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Since July, when a Rockland resident was confirmed to have been paralyzed by polio, 14,071 polio vaccines have been administered in the county, officials reported Monday.

No other cases have been confirmed. However, the dangerous virus was found circulating in communities across Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties in the Hudson Valley, plus New York City and Nassau County on Long Island. It is still circulating in Orange County, state officials reported Friday. Based on wastewater sampling, polio hasn't been seen in Rockland since October.

Of the polio vaccines administered in Rockland, 77 percent were administered to children ages 0 to 4, county officials said.

However, officials warned, it's not time to declare the campaign a success and stop.

The county remains focused on those unvaccinated or behind on their 4-dose polio vaccine series, particularly infants and preschool-aged children, because transmission of polio only happens if overall vaccination rates are low.

Rockland County has one of the lowest child polio immunization rates in New York. The rate in Rockland was 60.34 percent as of Aug. 1, based on the most recent data from the state's Immunization Information System. That is significantly lower than the statewide average of 78.96 percent of children with three polio immunizations before their second birthday.

Until 2022, the last case of polio identified in the US was in 2013 in an infant who received a live-virus vaccination abroad. The unvaccinated Rockland County resident who contracted paralytic polio had not traveled abroad, health investigators said.

While polio outbreaks ended in the United States when the vaccine became available, they still occur globally, specially where there are low vaccination rates.

"This is not the first time our County has dealt with an infection brought in from overseas. Our measles outbreak in 2019 began when seven travelers visited our county while they were infected,” Rockland County Executive Ed Day said Monday. "Out of respect for our citizens, and their safety, it is time that the federal government start holding travelers to the same high standards that we hold Americans to."

Meanwhile, Rockland officials are continuing their outreach efforts to encourage people to follow the USA's longstanding practice of vaccinating children against dangerous infectious diseases.

Families must remain mindful, said Rockland County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, recommending that everyone use the start of the new year to check that your own and your children’s immunization status are up-to-date.