What to know
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced Wednesday that it is expanding eligibility for monkeypox vaccination
- The city will open 30,000 new appointments on Thursday at 4pm, under the new eligibility guidelines.
- Additionally, the city announced that it will refer to monkeypox as MPV as “the former name is an imprecise and stigmatizing label for a virus that primarily affects a community that has already suffered a long history of intolerance.”
NEW YORK – The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced Wednesday that it is expanding eligibility for monkeypox vaccination by adopting a model of pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP, for that matter) , known in English) reaching people who may be exposed in the future, all in an effort to protect more New Yorkers.
The city will open 30,000 new appointments on Thursday at 4pm, under the new eligibility guidelines.
“As a community that works closely together, we have radically reversed the trajectory of this virus,” New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said in a statement. “By introducing pre-exposure prophylactic vaccination or reaching people who may be exposed in the future, we will protect more New Yorkers and continue to mitigate this outbreak.”
The new guidelines include:
- persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity who have or may have multiple (more than 1) or anonymous sexual partners, or who engage in or may have group sex;
- persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity whose sexual partners are eligible according to the above criteria;
- people who know or suspect they have been exposed to monkeypox in the past 14 days; Y
- people who are considered at risk of contracting monkeypox through sex or other intimate contact.
- To date, more than 130,000 first and second doses of the monkeypox vaccine have been administered.
New Yorkers who received the first doses are strongly encouraged to receive the second dose 28 days after the first. Walk-ins are available.
To find a place where vaccines are available, Click here.
Additionally, the city announced that it will refer to monkeypox as MPV as “the former name is an imprecise and stigmatizing label for a virus that primarily affects a community that has already suffered a long history of intolerance.”
For more information, Click here.
