2K Polio Vaccines Given In Rockland, Still Not Enough, Says CDC

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Rockland County's effort to encourage more vaccinations against polio has not significantly increased community immunization levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The infant vaccination rate against polio is as low as 37.3 percent in some neighborhoods in Rockland County, according to state data, the CDC said in a recent report. Countywide, 3-dose polio vaccination coverage among infants and children aged less than 24 months living in Rockland County was 67.0 percent in July 2020 and declined to 60.3 percent by August 2022.

That's far below the average nationwide, where coverage by age 2 was 92.7 percent among infants born during 2017–18, the CDC said.

The CDC noted that the Rockland County Department of Health launched a countywide catch-up vaccination effort on July 22, the day after the USA's first case of paralytic polio in a decade was confirmed in a Rockland County resident.

"Although there was a brief increase in administration of polio-containing vaccines (IPV alone and combination vaccines including IPV), the number of doses administered at temporary and established clinics was not sufficient to meaningfully increase population IPV coverage levels," the CDC said Tuesday in the report, which also gave more details about the young unvaccinated adult who became paralyzed with polio in June.

It's not for lack of trying.

As of Wednesday, 2,152 polio vaccines had been administered in Rockland since July 22, county officials reported.

They believe that shows the efforts by their Department of Health, the New York State Health Department and CDC to boost vaccinations is working.

"RCDOH has distributed over 5,000 copies of flyers in four different languages to houses of worship, doctor’s offices, grocery stores, summer camps, and other public gathering areas," county officials said in a news release Thursday. "As decision-making for vaccinating preschoolers rests solely with families, RCDOH is having ongoing conversations with local health providers, which families trust, to boost immunizations.

"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," they said.

RCDOH is hosting its next vaccine clinic from 3 – 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center located at 110 Bethune Blvd. in Spring Valley. Appointments are recommended but not necessary.

You can also schedule to receive the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) at the Health Department clinic in Pomona on Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment — which can be done by clicking here. Anyone who needs assistance scheduling an appointment can call RCDOH at 845-238-1956.

"The single case in our County was transmitted from an individual who received the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which hasn’t been administered in the U.S. since 2000, indicating the virus originated in a location outside of the country where OPV is still administered," officials said. "NYSDOH confirms Rockland County’s polio case is linked to strains in wastewater samples found in Israel and the UK. Wastewater samples in the UK have tested positive for polio as far back as February. As the investigation into the NYC, Orange & Rockland samples continues, we implore families to act and get vaccinated."

As reported by the New York State Department of Health Aug. 12, wastewater sampling conducted identified 6 positive samples of polio in New York City in June and July not genetically linkedto the case in Rockland County, signaling this is a larger regional issue across New York.

About 3 in 4 people infected with the poliovirus don’t show any symptoms at all, allowing it to spread quickly among unvaccinated populations. That has raised alarm among CDC officials.

Dr. José Romero, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told CNN last week that the confirmed New York case could be “just the very, very tip of the iceberg.”

He’s worried there are more people infected with and shedding poliovirus. “The spread is always a possibility because the spread is going to be silent,” he said.

One in 4 will develop flu-like symptoms, such as sore throat, fever, tiredness, nausea and stomach pain. One in 25 people get viral meningitis and about one in 200 will become paralyzed. Polio can lead to permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and can be fatal due to paralysis in the muscles used to breathe or swallow.

Post-polio syndrome affects between 25 and 40 out of every 100 polio survivors. Starting about 15 to 40 years after the initial infection, people affected by PPS develop a set of health problems such as muscle weakness, mental and physical fatigue and joint pain.

There is no cure.

SEE:

• NY Confirms 1st Case Of Polio In U.S. Since 2013
• 'Tip Of The Iceberg': More Polio Virus Detected In The Hudson Valley
• CDC Comes To Hudson Valley To Deal With Polio Virus
• More Poliovirus Found In Hudson Valley, NYC Wastewater
• Polio Circulating Since April In The Hudson Valley: CDC
• Polio In The U.S: What New Yorkers Need To Know