Shelby County Health Department extends monkeypox vaccination hours – Action News 5

October 5, 2022 Kim Martel

SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. (WMC) – This October, the Shelby County Health Department will offer evening and weekend availability for monkeypox vaccinations.

As of Friday, Sept. 23, there have been 73 reports of the viral disease in Shelby County.

Every Monday and Wednesday of this month, SCHD will provide opportunities for more at-risk people to get vaccinated against monkeypox.

This comes as the viral disease still poses a threat to many people. According to the CDC, people who are immunocompromised due to HIV or people who have been exposed to monkeypox are most at-risk.

SCHD says nearly 900 people living in the county have received at least one dose of the two-dose monkeypox vaccine.

More than 46% of those people are white, 23% are Black and 29% of those vaccinated identify as other.

According to the CDC, monkeypox has significantly affected the Black and Hispanic communities, as Black and Hispanic people are disproportionally affected by HIV.

The Shelby County Health Department will accept appointments for the monkeypox vaccine from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday during the month of October and from 8 a.m. to noon for the last two Saturdays of the month.

Appointments are only being accepted for at-risk people.

The Shelby County Health Department limits the vaccine to at-risk people by the following criteria:

1. Individuals with a known contact/exposure to monkeypox identified through public health interviews during the prior 14 days

2. Individuals who might have been exposed to monkeypox in the past 14 days, including if they:

Are aware that a sexual partner was diagnosed with monkeypox in the past 14 days
Have had multiple sexual partners in the past 14 days

3. Gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men (MSM), and/or transgender, gender-nonconforming or gender non-binary individuals who report any of the following in the last 90 days:

Having multiple sex partners or anonymous sex
Being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI), including HIV
Receiving medications to prevent HIV infection (HIV PrEP)
Living with HIV

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