News

Quincy opens free measles vaccination clinic after child diagnosed

QUINCY, Mass. — Health officials are trying to stop the measles from spreading in Quincy. The city opened a clinic Memorial Day weekend with free vaccines to get ahead of the outbreak after a child was diagnosed with the disease earlier in the week.

Quincy's Commissioner of Public Health told Boston 25 News that they had about 50 people come by the clinic on Sunday to get the measles vaccine.

PREVIOUS: Health officials: Potential exposure to measles in multiple Mass. locations

They’re hoping more people will come Monday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to make sure they're safe from the disease.

"I've been a nurse for over 40 years and I've never actually seen a case of the measles," said Commissioner of Public Health Ruth Jones. "So to have these numbers start popping up is very concerning.

"This was a big deal that this was actually diagnosed in a timely fashion."

Health officials quickly learned the child diagnosed with measles had visited several places in Quincy and Weymouth over the last week, including a YMCA, a daycare and a Star Market on Granite Ave.

Commissioner Jones says, if you were at those locations or are not sure if you've had the measles vaccine, you should come by the clinic just in case, since it could be a while before you realize you have symptoms.

"It doesn't actually get diagnosed or even checked for diagnosis as measles until they develop a rash," Commissioner Jones said. "However, you are contagious four days before that rash develops and four days after the rash develops."

Related: You might need measles booster shot if born before 1989, health experts say

In this recent case, Commissioner Jones says the child was under 12 months old and too young for the vaccine, so the child likely caught the disease from someone who wasn't vaccinated.

"People should feel safe getting their kids vaccinated," she said. "And if you look at the devastation of some of these diseases, vaccination is such a better choice."