Limited supply of monkeypox vaccine offered to San Diego’s gay and bisexual communities – The San Diego Union-Tribune
About 600 doses of monkeypox vaccine will be made available to those at increased risk of infection Wednesday and Thursday in an effort to prevent spread of the disease during the San Diego Pride Festival this weekend.
State, national and international public organizations have recently indicated that members of gay, bisexual and transgender communities have made up a significant percentage of those who have contracted monkeypox infections, with some linked to raves and other large parties overseas in the spring.
Dr. Seema Shah, medical director of San Diego County’s epidemiology and immunization services branch, said Tuesday that additional doses were provided to the county health department in advance of the festival as was the case for similar events held recently in other communities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“We looked at what other jurisdictions have done, to understand what’s the best way to go about doing this,” Shah said. “This is not just a decision made by the county; it’s a decision made by the community.”
Shah said that the county has been working with organizations such as The San Diego LGBT Community Center and San Diego Pride to raise awareness that this particular population is at a greater risk of getting infected.
“We’re reaching out as directly as we can to groups of people that need to be vaccinated,” Shah said. “We made this decision in conjunction with community leaders, asking what’s the best messaging, what are the right groups, how should we do this?”
Fernando López Jr., director of San Diego Pride, said messaging has been going out in newsletters, on social media and through other channels for about three weeks now.
Monkeypox spreads through direct physical contact, especially with the distinctive rash that appears after people are infected, and López Jr. said that party planners and small businesses planning events for the coming weekend have generally been open to encouraging caution around physical contact this year.
The county health department was particularly pointed in its messaging Tuesday, “encouraging gay, bisexual, transgender and other men who have sex with men to abstain or practice safer sex to avoid getting and spreading the monkeypox virus.”
So far, San Diego County has reported only six monkeypox cases, and Shah said there are no signs that they are linked. Nor is there any evidence of the virus that causes the condition spreading from person to person in the community.
Wednesday and Thursday’s events, she said, signal a shift from vaccinating those known to have direct contact with a confirmed case to vaccinating those known to be a higher-than-average risk of infection.
Preventing transmission, Lopez Jr. said, is an effort that the community supports.
“We take public health very seriously as a community,” Lopez Jr. said. “What we are seeing is a really intentional effort on the part of LGBT organizations, small businesses and public health to really do our best to mitigate the spread before it happens.”
Because JYNNEOS, the monkeypox vaccine that will be used Wednesday and Thursday, requires two doses to be effective, vaccination does not immediately eliminate risk of infection. Shah said full protection takes more than one month to develop.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists 926 monkeypox cases nationwide with 186 in California, according to the latest update from the California Department of Public Health. A total of 66 probable and confirmed cases have been recorded in Los Angeles County with 60 in San Francisco.
Vaccination will be prioritized for those at the greatest epidemiological risk, including “gay, bisexual and transgender persons and other men who have sex with men,” and also those who participate in circuit or rave parties.
Doses will be delivered by appointment only, and those who are interested can call 211 for more information.