LA County to distribute monkeypox vaccines to 'high-risk' individuals
Los Angeles County Public Health officials announced plans to expand access to the monkeypox vaccine to high-risk people.
Officials held a press conference in hopes to inform but not alarm the public about the disease.
"I want to be clear that the risk of monkeypox to the general population remains very low according to the information we currently have available," said L.A. County public health official Dr. Rita Singahal.
As of Friday, there are 54 confirmed monkeypox cases in the county, twice as many as a week ago. While the county had run out of the limited amount of doses, they announced that they received an additional 6000 shots and will allow more residents to receive them.
"Beginning on Monday, July 11, we're happy to report we'll be expanding eligibility criteria for residents to receive the monkeypox vaccine," said vaccine-preventable disease control director Andrea Kim.
Previously, the two-dose vaccine was only given to residents who had contact with someone who contracted the virus or who attended an event where there was a high risk of exposure. However, with the arrival of new doses high-risk individuals in disproportionally affected communities — those in the gay community and people in the Men's Central Jail — will be eligible.
"This can actually be transmitted through intimate contact," said AltaMed Health Services Dr. Ilan Shapiro. "For people who are sharing, for example, bedding, toothbrushes and other things then if we can limit that it will be safer for us."
Shapiro added that immediate access to the vaccine is vital to curbing the spread.
"This vaccine is the second generation of the vaccine that we use against the pox viruses," he said. "It actually protects against monkeypox also."
Even though the risk of contracting the disease is low, health officials said eligibility will expand as more doses become available.