ICYMI: State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett’s Op-Ed in New York Times: Even a Single Case of Polio Is a Threat

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 22, 2022) – Yesterday, the New York Times Opinion Section published a guest essay by State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett who, urging immunization, discussed the significance of paralytic polio in New York and the imminent threat it poses to adults and children who are unvaccinated. An excerpt of the op-ed is available below and the full text can be viewed online here.

" The case of a young adult paralyzed by polio in New York is not simply unexpected. It's shocking. The last time polio was diagnosed in New York State was in 1990. And yet the virus has now also been found in wastewater samples in Rockland County, Orange County and New York City. As surveillance continues, we will learn more, but what we know already is enough. We have circulating poliovirus that can cause paralysis in these communities. Polio in New York today is an imminent threat…"

The full text can be viewed online here.