Monkeypox awareness at Jersey City Pride Festival Saturday and chance to get vaccinated off-site – NJ.com
The Jersey City-based Hyacinth Foundation will be offering the monkeypox vaccine this weekend, but you won’t find it anywhere near the city’s annual Pride Festival.
With the virus overwhelmingly afflicting the LGBTQ+ community, and gay men in particular, what gives?
“Alcohol and vaccines are not a good mix,” said Kathy O’Brien, the foundation’s executive director. “Given the availability of alcohol use at Pride events, we’ve decided to not administer the vaccinations at Pride.”
After a two-year hiatus, the festival will return to Newark Avenue, between Grove Street and Jersey Avenue, Saturday.
In partnership with the Jersey City Department of Health, Hyacinth will provide second doses of the vaccine Saturday at the Collier Senior Center, 335 Bergen Ave., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The foundation will also be offering second doses Aug. 31 at the City Clinic at 1 Jackson Square from 8 a.m. to noon.
Hyacinth and the city health department have distributed more than 900 monkeypox vaccinations, said Avaleen Davis, director of the city’s Division of Disease Prevention. Jersey City was provided roughly 1,100 doses by the state.
The largest share of monkeypox cases in the state — 118 of the 420 as of Sunday — have been identified in Hudson County, according to the state Department of Health.
“Demand is still high (for monkeypox vaccinations),” said O’Brien, “but I think we’ve been able to meet demand, particularly as the state continues to open additional sites for testing.”
Monkeypox is a virus similar to smallpox and chicken pox. Symptoms include fevers, chills, muscle aches, headaches and blister-like rashes or lesions. Symptoms tend to show up anywhere between five to 21 days from exposure, according to the state Department of Health.
The virus is usually spread from direct contact with an infected person of things they’ve touched — sex, bedsheets, towels — according to the national Centers for Disease Control.
Hyacinth’s Project LOL (Living Out Loud) will have a presence at the Pride Festival Saturday, but O’Brien says the group has found success using social media to spread vaccine news and awareness in the community.
Hyacinth’s Project LOL (Living Out Loud) “has its own social media that reaches their target audience. We’ve been using both the agency and the program social media accounts to let folks know about our vaccine campaigns,” O’Brien said.
“Project LOL also has a peer network that they utilize to get the word out. The state has done a great social media campaign as well, as our organization (along with others) has been listed there.”
Elsewhere in the county, the North Hudson Community Action Corp. is working with Hudson Pride to distribute monkeypox vaccinations and raise awareness.
Individuals who are at greatest risk of contracting monkeypox are encouraged to get vaccinated.
According to the state Department of Health, this includes “individuals that attended an event where known monkeypox exposure occurred” and “individuals that identify as gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men (MSM), and/or transgender, gender non-conforming, or non-binary and who have a history of multiple or anonymous sex partners within the past 14 days.”
Individuals who need the first monkeypox vaccine dose can call the City Clinic at (201) 547-5535 to make an appointment.