Monkeypox response relies on trade-offs without federal aid
Nationally, monkeypox reported daily cases are declining weekly, Walensky said Wednesday, but the influx of cases has left many sexual health clinics with depleted resources.
New data shows the vaccine is working. Those who were recommended for monkeypox vaccination and did not receive it are 14 times more likely to be infected with the virus than those who received a single dose of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine. But peak virus protection occurs two weeks after the second shot, so the CDC still highly recommends people continue with the full vaccination regimen.
Kaiyti Duffy, chief medical officer at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, said that during the COVID-19 vaccination effort, many community clinics that distributed vaccines were reimbursed for their time and efforts because distributing vaccines is outside their usual scope of care.
To date, her clinic has not received any reimbursement for monkeypox vaccinations.
“It is overwhelming for a community clinic to take on an outbreak of this size without the support that we need from the state and from the federal level. Just in the same way as we responded to COVID, we have to do this here and now. Otherwise, it’s institutional homophobia,” Duffy said.
