New York City to administer 6,000 monkeypox vaccine doses at pop-up clinics

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Thousands of doses of Monkeypox vaccines have arrived in New York City, and appointments were immediately filled.

The city’s contractor opened the vaccine website prematurely Wednesday and the appointments filled up, then they released more, and those appointments quickly booked up as well.

The pop up site is opening up inside the Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic on Fifth Avenue and the city is also re-opening another location at their clinic in Chelsea.

That one is booked up as well.

The city says they just received a shipment of 6,000 doses but they’re all accounted for.

Last month, there were long lines at the pop up clinic in Chelsea.

Even though anyone can get monkeypox, right now the vaccine is only available to men who have sex with other men over the age of 18.

That’s because it is currently spreading among gay social circles causing mild illness including a painful and itchy rash and sores.

Health experts say this is not going to be another COVID.

“I understand that everyone is really tuned up about monkeypox because they are using their COVID antenna to look at it. This is a non-fatal illness. It is usually self-limited. It is largely dermatologic, although it can have some systemic symptoms ,” said Dr. Ashwin Vasan, NYC Health Commissioner.

The health commissioner also addressing issues with the vaccine appointment website saying, “Not only were there technical issues but the demand for this vaccine is high and there isn’t enough vaccine supply in the US. Right now, all appointments have been booked. We will make additional appointments available early next week.”

The number of probable cases has increased from just 48 on June 27 to 119 as of Wednesday.

Both the city and state health commissioner are going to be in Harlem later Thursday morning.

The city is requesting additional supply from the CDC to meet the high demand.
The Health Department has posted guidelines for people considering vaccination and any potential risks.

To make an appointment when they are available, visit the NYC.gov page.

Monkeypox is harder to contract than COVID, as it requires close contact or the sharing of bodily fluid.

The symptoms of the rare virus include fever and rash, muscle aches, and chills.

The World Health Organization is assessing whether the current monkeypox outbreaks in several countries presents a public health emergency of international concern.
Worldwide, monkeypox is deadly in between 3% to 6% of cases, though the death rate is less than 1% in areas with quality healthcare.

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