Hundreds more Iowans vaccinated against monkeypox this week – Des Moines Register
More monkeypox vaccines have made their way to at-risk Iowans, but in this latest round, shots were administered in smaller, but equally effective doses.
Local public health officials said new dosage guidelines from federal officials should allow them to vaccinate more individuals from a single vial, stretching supply to reach more Iowans at highest risk for exposure.
Iowa has 16 confirmed cases of monkeypox, a viral disease that federal officials have declared a public health emergency, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, more than 16,000 individuals have been infected since May.
To date federal health officials have allocated 2,641 doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine to Iowa, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As of Monday, fewer than have of those, 1,057 vaccines, had been administered in Iowa, said Sarah Ekstrand, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
More:You have a lump on your arm weeks after monkeypox vaccine. Why it’s a ‘super common’ side effect.
The latest shipment of vaccines, which arrived last week, comes with new guidelines to administer the vaccine intradermally, or between the layers of the skin. Previously, shots were administered subcutaneously, or in the fatty tissue under the skin.
Total dose amount is also dropping from 0.5 milliliters to 0.1 milliliters. The dermis, or the skin layer where an intradermal injection is delivered, houses a large amount of immune cells, so a smaller vaccine amount still creates a robust immune response, said Nola Aigner Davis, spokesperson for the Polk County Health Department.
Supply of monkeypox vaccines still limited
Still, supply remains limited, even with top health officials announcing plans to accelerate distribution earlier this month.
Shots will continue to be prioritized in the days ahead for the those with a known exposure and those most at-risk for exposure — gay and bisexual men. Though this population is not only group that can be infected, they make up the majority of cases nationwide.
“When we are looking at a virus — similar to what we did for COVID pandemic, for H1N1 — public health looks at emerging illness and who is being impacted the most,” Aigner Davis said. “That’s how we determine the best course to control the spread of a virus and limit infection.”
Federal officials have not given any indication when eligibility for the vaccine will open to others.
“We will continue to work with our federal and local partners to determine expansion of this eligibility criteria,” Ekstrand said.
Polk County opens 600 spots at vaccine clinic
The state’s vaccine allocation was distributed to five sites across the state, including two in Polk County: Polk County Health Department and Primary Health Care, a federally qualified health center in Des Moines.
As of Wednesday, Polk County Health Department administered 522 doses to Iowans, Aigner Davis said, including the roughly 400 shots given during the county’s vaccine clinic held the week of Aug. 8.
The county agency also opened 600 new appointments this week, available to individuals who fall into one of the following categories:
- New or multiple sex partners within the last 30 days.
- Close contact with others at a venue or event in the last 30 days where a suspected, probable or confirmed case of monkeypox was identified.
- Close contact with someone suspected, probable or confirmed as having monkeypox.
State officials also allocated monkeypox vaccine doses to Linn County, Scott County and Woodbury County.
Linn County shared its previous allocation with Johnson and Black Hawk counties. Residents from all three counties often travel and intermix with other residents through work or school, which prompted officials to work to establish a “unified approach” to vaccination in eastern Iowa, said Heather Meador, clinical services supervisor for Linn County Public Health.
As part of that unified approach, public health officials in Linn and Johnson counties partnered with a local business owner to host one-day vaccine clinics at LGBTQ bars last week.
As more vaccines arrive in the near future, Meador said Linn County officials plan to reach out to college campuses to LGBTQ students at highest risk for exposure.
State opens call center
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has established a call center and email address for Iowans with questions related to monkeypox. So far, the majority of contacts are requesting information on testing, vaccine eligibility and vaccine site locations, Ekstrand said.
The call center can be reached Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 515-725-2081. Questions can also be emailed to monkeypoxvaccine@idph.iowa.gov.
What are the symptoms of monkeypox?
Individuals infected with monkeypox develop a rash on or near the genitals and other parts of the body, such as hands or face. The rash can initially look like pimples or blisters and may be painful and itchy, public health officials say.
Other symptoms of monkeypox include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Muscle aches and backache
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Chills
- Exhaustion
How does it spread?
Monkeypox can spread through skin-to-skin contact, through contact with respiratory secretions such as kissing, or through direct contact with sores, according to the CDC. While it can be spread through sex and other intimate contact, monkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted disease.
Monkeypox can spread from the time symptoms starts until the associated rash has healed, according to the CDC. Illness from infection can last 2-4 weeks.
Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm.