KUSA – The Tri-County Health Department has clarified that vaccines are not being forced on the 357 ICE detainees who are in quarantine in Aurora following reported cases of mumps and chickenpox at the facility there.
The ICE detention center is making sure that it is offering the MMR vaccine to all current and incoming detainees at the facility.
Per Colorado law, the vaccine is not mandatory and can not be forced on detainees.
The ICE Geo Facility is located near Peoria Street and 30th Avenue.
In 2018 ICE had more chickenpox and mumps cases, it resulted in two dormitories being temporarily quarantined for chickenpox (a total of 126 people) and two dormitories for mumps (with 135 people), while the incubation period remained in effect, according to ICE.
9NEWS medical expert Dr. Comilla Sasson says both mumps and chickenpox can be prevented with vaccines.
ICE stopped short of calling recent infections an "outbreak" - it reserves this term for when five or more people develop an illness. However, Tuesday's quarantine brings the total number of infected people to seven in the last 13 months; three people contracted chickenpox in 2018.
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