Thousands of New York City monkeypox vaccine appointments filled in just 7 minutes
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Demand continues to outpace supply when it comes to the monkeypox vaccine in New York City, after 9,200 appointments were filled in just seven minutes when new doses became available Friday evening.
The Big Apple has become the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., primarily impacting the LGBTQ+ community, and Governor Kathy Hochul says there are tens of thousands of additional doses on the way.
The official monkeypox case count continues to grow, with 490 now reported across New York State.
Almost all of them, 461, are in New York City, but Westchester County is now up to 16 confirmed cases, while Nassau and Suffolk counties are reporting 4 and 3 confirmed cases, respectively. Additionally, there is one case each in Rockland, Sullivan, Chemung, Erie, St. Lawrence and Monroe counties.
The CDC says it has ordered 2.5 million doses of the vaccine, in addition to 2.5 million that were already ordered on July 1.
Nearly 33,000 of those doses will arrive in New York next week, but Mayor Eric Adams says the city needs more.
"We have 25% of the cases; this is ground zero, this is the epicenter," he said. "We had great communication with the White House, great communication with the officials there. We're hoping that they're going to hear us and bring in the numbers that we need."
The vaccine rollout has been plagued with glitches and delays, prompting the city to switch from outside vendors to its own website, the same platform used for COVID vaccination appointments.
"We own it," Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said. "Those mistakes shouldn't happen. And so we're working to correct those and do better for New Yorkers in the future."
In addition to the existing monkeypox vaccine clinics located at the Department's Chelsea, Central Harlem, and Corona Sexual Health Clinic sites, the city said a new clinic will open at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health, Vanderbilt site (165 Vanderbilt Avenue on Staten Island).
On Sunday 7/15, three mass vaccinations sites will open for appointments at:
Anyone can get and spread monkeypox, though the current cases are primarily spreading among social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, so this community is currently at greater risk of exposure.
If you have a new or unexpected rash or other symptoms of monkeypox, contact a health care provider.
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.
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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