Fighting two pandemics at once: mass vaccination stations for monkeypox opened in New York

The United States is at the epicenter of the largest monkeypox outbreak in history. And although there is a vaccine against this virus, it is difficult to make an appointment for vaccination in New York. New York Health Commissioner says vaccine shortages and slow equipment testing have failed to contain one of the largest monkeypox outbreaks in history, reports NBC New York.

Hoping to turn the tide and deal with a virus whose patient numbers have doubled in less than a week, the city took advantage of the latest supply of vaccine. And on July 17, he opened three points of mass vaccination. They are located at:

Aviation High School (45-30 36th Street in Queens);
Bushwick Education (440 Irving Avenue in Brooklyn);
Bronx High School of Science (75 W 205th Street in the Bronx).

After the opening of each of the mass vaccination sites, the city will finally offer doses of the vaccine in all five districts. The initial introduction of vaccinations began in one clinic in Chelsea, after which a second branch opened in Harlem. Subsequent medical clinics received the vaccine in Queens and Staten Island.

“It's always a balance, as we learned from COVID. We need to get a vaccine as soon as possible. But we must also ensure that equity is built in from the start. And that's what we're trying to do now,” Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Wasan said.

All 9 seats were filled in less than 200 minutes. But the city has promised to give high-risk people the opportunity to sign up for an additional 10 rendezvous. The city was able to avoid another technological blunder as the appointment booking site did not go down.

Efforts to maximize the distribution of the vaccine are being made as the number of cases in New York is doubling almost every five days.

The city accounts for more than a quarter of all U.S. infections and more than 2% of all current infections worldwide. A total of 389 infections were reported in the city on Thursday.

On July 15, it rose again to 461, up 19% from the previous day. And more than 95% of those who fell ill before July 13 were men.

On the subject: New Yorkers began to be vaccinated against monkeypox: but the vaccine is not enough for everyone

City health officials have changed their vaccine distribution strategy. We postponed additional vaccinations in order to give more first doses as soon as possible. This adjustment helped the city make an additional 1000 first-dose appointments available on Friday.

City Hall has formally asked the Biden administration to delay these second doses precisely so it can get more first doses while supplies are limited.

“Last week we opted for the first doses. The scientists said the first dose provided sufficient protection. Not as powerful as two doses, but significant,” Vasan added.

Other counties in New York have reported 29 more cases of monkeypox. That being said, Westchester now ranks second in the number of cases with 16 cases. There is also a vaccination plan implemented. Several hospitals and health centers are administering 450 doses of the vaccine. Another 520 will be available starting July 18 by appointment at the Count Health Clinic on Court Street.

Governor Kathy Hokul said 32 more doses will be sent to New York.