Montreal vaccinates 350 Hasidic kids against measles after 5 cases confirmed

Cases are first in city since 2011, believed to have been brought to Canada by someone who visited New York

By JTA 26 August 2019, 5:26 am

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A one-dose bottle of measles, mumps and rubella virus (MMR) vaccine at the Health Department of Salt Lake County, Utah, on April 26, 2019. (Illustrative. George Frey/Getty Images)

Hundreds of children in a Hasidic community near Montreal were vaccinated against measles after five confirmed cases cropped up in recent weeks.

Some 350 children in the Tosh Hasidic community were vaccinated over four days in two temporary clinics set up by the public health authority, the Canadian Jewish News reported

The free immunizations were voluntary, and offered to those whose medical records said that their immunizations were not up to date, according to the report.

Prior to the opening of the temporary clinics, some 90 percent to 95 percent of the children of the Tosh community already were vaccinated, Isaac Weiss, responsible for security and public safety in the Tosh community, told the CJN.

Unvaccinated children will not be permitted to enter the community’s schools in the fall, Weiss said.

It is not known who brought the measles to the community, though it is believed to have been brought from someone who visited New York. It is the first cases of measles in the region since 2011.