On Oct. 3, 2019, the New York State Department of Health announced that more than 42 days – the equivalent of two incubation periods – had passed in Sullivan and Orange counties without any new cases of measles. Reaching this milestone, as Rockland County did last week, means there were no longer any active cases in New York State associated with the initial measles outbreak from October 2018.

To further help prevent transmission of vaccine-preventable diseases, in Jun., New York State removed non-medical exemptions from school vaccination requirements for children. In August, the Department issued emergency regulations further strengthening the process by which physicians can grant medical exemptions to school vaccination requirements in order to prevent them from being used for non-medical purposes.