Some Queens parents who are against vaccinating their kids on religious grounds have sued the city to get rid of the policy which keeps kids with communicable diseases out of school. "It is my opinion that resorting to vaccinations demonstrates a lack of faith in God, which would anger God and therefore be sacrilegious," said Fabian Mendoza-Vaca, the father of two students at P.S. 107, who sued the city last week in Queens Supreme Court to overturn principals’ decisions to send his kids home. more ›

In November, Upper East Side resident Jin Won was out for an afternoon walk with her four dogs. According to her, police pulled her over and asked why her dogs' rabies tags were from 2009 and not 2010. She explained that the vaccinations are good for three years, but unfortunately didn't have the paperwork on her to prove it, so she was issued four tickets. She was confused, but figured the whole thing would be tossed out in court when she showed up with the vaccination papers. That didn't quite work out as planned; Judicial Hearing Officer Richard Ross reportedly refused to look at the paperwork and declared the matter "a trial issue." more ›

With the murder spikes and drivers getting away scott-free after dangerous crashes, we were beginning to wonder just what the NYPD was spending all their time doing. And now we have an answer! Jin Won of the Upper East Side is furious at allegedly receiving a number of tickets when it seems the only thing she was guilty of was not having her dogs' vaccination papers on her when out for an afternoon walk. And this was on November 13th, so it wasn't even part of the end-of-the-month quota roundup! more ›

Following the egg recall—which happened outside of New York, but right around the same time Brooklyn alfalfa sprouts and cheese was getting recalled—two New York State legislators have announced they want farmers to vaccinate their hens against salmonella. more ›

Back in December the Bad Old Days had returned in Central Park, but this time it wasn't the threat of man that concerned locals, it was animal! The number of rabid raccoons had gotten out of control, and an official warning was put out by the Department of Health. And since the city's population isn't foaming at the mouth now, we can only assume that we dodged some I Am Legend style outbreak, right? Right! According to the Daily News, the vaccination program the DoH instituted may have just worked. more ›

After the CDC announced that over 1,500 cases of the mumps have been reported in the NY-NJ area—the majority in the Orthodox Jewish community—the NYC Health Department has announced mumps vaccination clinics. About half of the cases are in NYC (44% in Brooklyn), and the Health Department says, "Young men in Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Borough Park have experienced high levels of mumps for several months. Most cases have occurred in males and an increasing number of cases have been in young adults, ages 18 to 30." Details for clinics are here. more ›

A Rockland County family filed suit against the New York Archdiocese after a Catholic preschool wouldn't accept their child because she has not been fully vaccinated, according to the Post. The couple — who filed the suit anonymously — claim they are the victims of religious discrimination and are seeking a court order so their 4-year-old can attend the St. Margaret School in Pearl River after the preschool rejected their request for a religious exemption. more ›

The city announced its plan to combat the H1N1 virus—the swine flu—this fall, and it leads with offering school-aged children free vaccines. The city also emphasized that all New Yorkers get vaccinated for seasonal as well as swine flu (whenever that vaccine is ready) early. Mayor Bloomberg said, "Today is the first of what will be many efforts to keep New Yorkers informed about what we are doing to prepare for the return of the H1N1 and seasonal flu. We can't predict this year's flu season, but we can make sure that City government is fully prepared for whatever happens." more ›

This past week things got stirred up at celebrity hotspot Socialista with a bit of a a Hepatitis A scare. Amongst the hundreds urged to get vaccinated were celebrities who attended actor Ashton Kutcher’s 30th birthday party at the bar; those on the Hepatitis A-list included Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. more ›

It used to be one only had to worry about "the morning after" if they took another bar patron home with them, but the NYC Health Department is asking at least 800 imbibers of a West Village bar to get a hepatitis A vaccination! more ›