Monkeypox State Of Emergency Ends But Vaccination Still Encouraged – SFGATE

November 1, 2022 Kim Martel

As of Monday, San Francisco is no longer in a state of emergency due to monkeypox, according to the Department of Public Health.

Officials said on Oct. 20 that the state of emergency for MPX would be lifted by Halloween with cases dropping to less than one per day.

The emergency declaration, which went into effect Aug. 1, came amid a rise in infections that peaked with 143 new MPX cases in San Francisco on the week starting July 24, according to city public health officials.

The city ramped up its vaccinations against MPX to stop the spread of the virus, with more than 27,000 San Franciscans now having received the Jynneos vaccine.

State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) on Monday hailed the dramatic drop in cases and took credit for spearheading the emergency budget allocation of $41.5 million to fight the problem.

“Our community’s response to the monkeypox outbreak is a shining example of effective public health,” said Wiener in a statement. “When the monkeypox outbreak began, the LGBTQ community immediately banded together to ensure that we were not left behind as we’ve been so many times in the past. We fought like hell for testing, vaccines and community education. No one wanted to see a repeat of the HIV/AIDS or COVID crisis.”

While many cases have been confirmed among men who identify as gay or bisexual, public health officials have stressed that the virus is not exclusive to men who have sex with men, and anyone can contract monkeypox regardless of their sexual orientation.

In its announcement about the ending of the emergency declaration, the San Francisco Department of Public Health said the declaration “served its purpose to reflect the immediate urgency of the MPX threat to the health of those most affected in the gay, bisexual and trans communities. It also gave public health officials tools, such as collection of critical data, needed to respond effectively.”

People are still encouraged to get the two-dose Jynneos vaccine, and public health officials said they will be continuing to respond to outbreak and monitor trends with the virus.

More information on San Francisco’s response to MPX and where to find the vaccine can be found at sf.gov/mpx.

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