New York City, faced with a spike in monkeypox cases and high demand for vaccines, announced Wednesday that it has alerted federal authorities to the “emergency” to extend vaccination once morest this disease, which mainly affects men who have sex with men, including gay and bis men.
The largest American city – between eight and nine million inhabitants –, considered a capital for the defense of LGBTI + rights, officially counted 336 cases on Wednesday July 13. “likely” of monkeypox, once morest 267 the day before and 223 on Monday, figures which do not reflect the whole of a “epidemic on the rise”according to the New York Department of Health.
On Tuesday, the health services had to apologize following numerous failures on the vaccine reservation website, “overwhelmed by traffic”, while 1,250 appointment slots were available, sparking protests and frustration on social media.
In this context, the city’s Democratic Mayor, Eric Adams, indicated that he had a telephone meeting with the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) to “discuss the supply constraints New York City faces and the urgency to expand immunization to more people, in more neighborhoods, with more partners and providers.”
“We also signaled our commitment to quickly address the current shortage with the necessary funds, commensurate with the health burden on New York, the epicenter of the monkeypox outbreak,” Eric Adams added in a statement.
New York was due to receive 14,500 doses from the US government this week, adding to nearly 7,000 received since June 23.
Vaccination, which is carried out in two doses, is for the moment reserved as a priority “to gay, bis, or other men who have sex with men, trans or non-binary people”, recalled the health services. This is the population most at risk of being contaminated, in particular through contact or sexual relations.
Non-fatal, monkeypox disease causes rashes that may look like pimples or blisters and with flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache and fatigue, but also very strong pain in the event of genital or oral lesions.
