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New York Announces Thousands of Additional Monkeypox Vaccine Doses - Where/How to Get Vaccine in NYC
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The state has also expanded eligibility to anyone at risk of infection. Learn about where to find shots, how many doses are available and how to stay safe.
Sept. 15, 2022 ny times https://www.nytimes.com/article/monkeypox-vaccine-nyc.html
Since declaring a state of emergency in July, New York City and New York State have been working to distribute a limited supply of monkeypox vaccine from the federal government.
The effort appears to be helping: More than three months after the first case was detected, the outbreak has slowed in New York City, with the seven-day average of new daily cases standing at roughly 20 as of early September, down from a high of about 70 per day in late July.
Just over 3,370 people in the city had tested positive for the monkeypox virus as of Sept. 11, most of them adult men who have sex with men. As many as 150,000 New Yorkers may be at risk of exposure to the disease, officials said, based on the current vaccine eligibility criteria.
The supply of vaccine has increased, in part because of a new method of giving the shots that allows providers to get multiple doses out of each vial. As a result, city officials announced earlier this month that second doses of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, which had been held back because of supply concerns, would now be available.
Here's what to know about finding a monkeypox vaccine in New York City:
How can I get a vaccine in New York City?
People who received their first dose at least 10 weeks ago will be notified by email or text that they can now make a second-dose appointment, which they can do on the city's vaccine website.
The most direct way is to schedule an appointment on the city health department's website.
The city is administering vaccines at multiple sites across the five boroughs.
The main mode of transmission is direct physical contact with the sores, but the virus can also spread through contaminated objects, such as bedsheets and clothing, and via respiratory droplets. Researchers have found the virus in bodily fluids like saliva, urine and semen, but there is still debate over whether monkeypox is transmitted through semen.
Scientists agree, however, that condoms do not protect completely against transmission.
All patients will receive the Jynneos vaccine, which has been administered since June. Most shots will be given using a new method approved by the federal government.
Under this new method, known as intradermal dosing, health care providers inject a small amount of vaccine into a patient's skin, instead of into the fat beneath the skin.
Intradermal dosing allows the government to stretch its meager vaccine supply and provide more vaccinations, by getting four or five doses out of each vial of vaccine, instead of just one.
More than 95,000 vaccine doses have already been administered in New York City.
Who is eligible for a vaccine in New York City?
Anyone at risk of becoming infected is now eligible for the vaccine, according to the latest guidance from the State Health Department . That includes people who were exposed to someone who may have tested positive for monkeypox within the last 14 days.
That also includes adult men who have sex with men, and transgender, gender nonconforming or nonbinary adults who have had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the last 14 days. Close contacts of infected people are also eligible.
Sex workers are eligible for vaccines, regardless of gender identity. Also eligible are those who have sex for transactional reasons, such as for food, shelter or money. No proof of eligibility is required - you simply have to attest that you are eligible when making an appointment on the website.
Eligible people who have a condition that weakens their immune systems, such as H.I.V., are particularly encouraged to get the vaccine. People who have been infected with the monkeypox virus are not eligible for vaccination.
As of Sept. 8, New York City had administered 41,933 doses to white recipients, and about a quarter as many, or 11,509, to Black recipients. But more Black people, 856, than white people, 757, have tested positive for monkeypox , among those who provided demographic information to the city.
The New York State Health Department announced this week that it would be distributing an additional 3,840 vials of the monkeypox vaccine, which amounts to around 15,000 doses for New Yorkers.
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