[ad_1]
San Francisco health officials are reserving a portion of monkeypox vaccine appointments at the city’s largest public vaccination clinic for residents who have been hit hardest by virus: gay and bisexual men of color, especially from the Latino community.
The strategy — which involves setting aside about 30% of appointments at Zuckerberg San Francisco General’s vaccine clinic — is meant to prioritize vaccinating gay and bisexual Latino men, who in San Francisco account for a disproportionately high number of monkeypox cases.
Hispanic or Latino people make up 29% of cases in San Francisco, despite only being 15% of the population — the only racial or ethnic group that is over-represented in monkeypox cases compared to their population, according to demographic data on monkeypox cases in the city.
White people, for example, make up 48% of monkeypox cases and are 41% of the population in San Francisco. Black people make up 7% of cases and are 5% of the population. Asian people make up 6% of cases and are 34% of the population. Virtually all reported monkeypox cases in the city, which as of Friday reached 305, have been in men.
Pharmacist Jonathan Parducho holds vials of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine at San Francisco General Hospital.
Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleA similar pattern is unfolding statewide, with Hispanic or Latino people making up 36% of infections despite only being 19% of the population in California, according to state-wide data released Friday.
At San Francisco General’s vaccine clinic, walk-ins account for about 70% of vaccinations. While anyone who’s eligible for the vaccine can walk in, as long as there’s vaccine available, roughly 30% of appointment slots have been prioritized to go to BIPOC individuals.
To do so, the public health department distributed 500 QR codes to seven community-based organizations that work with BIPOC and Latino LGBTQ+ communities: Aguilas, El/La Para Translatinas, Instituto Familiar de la Raza, Mission Neighborhood Health Center, Rafiki, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and SF Community Health Center. The codes can be used to book appointments online.
Only San Francisco General—not all monkeypox vaccine clinics in the city—are deploying this policy.
Amid a global shortage of the monkeypox vaccines, the public health department, like others around the state and country, is prioritizing the following groups for vaccination because monkeypox is spreading the most in their sexual networks: gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, trans people who have sex with men and have multiple sexual partners in the last 14 days, and sex workers of any sexual orientation or gender.
Also eligible for vaccines are people who’ve had close contact within the last 14 days with someone with a suspected or confirmed case, people who had close contact with others at a venue or event where a suspected or confirmed case was identified — including people who received a notice from a venue or event of a potential exposure within the last 14 days — and health care workers whose jobs put them at risk for exposure.
San Francisco has requested 35,000 doses of vaccine, but has so far received only about 12,000 doses.
Catherine Ho (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @Cat_Ho
|
Sources 2/ https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/S-F-clinic-reserves-30-of-monkeypox-vaccines-17339477.php The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
[ad_2]