Cleveland schedules 4 monkeypox vaccine clinics; 237 cases statewide, 68 in Cleveland – cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — In an effort to quell the city’s rising case numbers of monkeypox, the Cleveland Department of Public Health is offering free and anonymous vaccination clinics to at-risk individuals.
To date, there have been 68 cases in Cleveland, city health officials reported.
Statewide, there have been 237 cases, including 19 that have led to hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health. No deaths have been reported. No data for schools is listed on the state’s monkeypox website dashboard, but the age range for cases to date is 18 to 69. Schools are required, however, to report cases to local health departments, if there are any.
The vaccine clinics will be at 1313 E. 26th St. in Cleveland, from noon to 6 p.m. Friday; Tuesday; Friday, Sept. 23; and Friday, Sept. 30.
The symptoms include a rash or sores anywhere on the body, fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and respiratory symptoms.
Although anyone can get and spread monkeypox, cases are disproportionately affecting gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
Due to a national shortage of the JYNNEOS vaccine, the free vaccines will be offered only to those at highest risk. This includes anyone who has been exposed to someone with confirmed case of monkeypox; men who are gay, bisexual, or have sex with men; and transgender, gender non‐conforming, or gender non‐binary individuals who have multiple or anonymous sex partners in the last 14 days.
Those who are currently or were previously sick with monkeypox, or people who have had an allergic reaction to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, or egg protein, should not get the vaccine.
The virus is spread by skin‐to‐skin contact with an infected person, or through contact with contaminated clothes or linen, and, to a lesser degree, through contact with an infected person’s respiratory secretions, regardless of sexual orientation.
Visit the CDPH website for more information on the upcoming vaccine clinics, or https://mpoxvaxmap.org/ to find a vaccine clinic near you.