New York City reported on Friday its biggest surge yet in presumed cases of monkeypox, one day after a single clinic opened in Manhattan to distribute a vaccine.
The Health Department on Thursday announced the opening of a temporary clinic to administer the two-dose JYNNEOS vaccine to eligible people who may have had recent exposure to monkeypox, the city announced. NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said anxiety, particularly among sexually actively gay and bisexual men, prompted the city’s decision to make vaccines available.
But as of 2 p.m. Thursday, just three hours after opening its doors, the city said no more walk-ins would be accommodated and that all appointments were filled through Monday. News 4 counted more than 100 people lined up outside the clinic at the time. Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, tweeted that the city had only been allocated about 1,000 doses of the vaccine from the national stockpile. as the number of suspected cases nationwide boomed, marking America's largest-ever outbreak of monkeypox, which typically has been confined to other continents., people are urged to avoid close contact with those who are sick, including those with skin or genital lesions, as well as sick or dead animals.