Soaring demand for the monkeypox vaccine caused the appointment
system to crash in New York City, one of many places where supplies have been
running out almost as soon as they arrive.
City health officials acknowledged the frustration over the
limited supply of the vaccine and vowed to build a “stable appointment
infrastructure" as the vaccine supply increases.
Infections now exceed 1,000 from the growing outbreak in the U.S.
Most patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People
with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands
that can spread to other parts of the body.
Vaccine shortages have added to anxiety around the virus. Health
officials say anyone can get monkeypox, but most cases in the U.S. have been
men who have sex with men.
“After COVID, this should have been easy,” said Daniel Ross, 25, a
Harlem man who was one of the many who sought to make an appointment Tuesday.
“I kept refreshing and refreshing. ... I was frustrated.”
Ross soon gave up on the appointment portal, which went down
minutes after it went live.
“It’s going to haunt me,” he said. “Me being a gay man who lives
in Harlem, there’s a lot of anxiety. I had four mosquito bites, and I was
thinking what if this isn’t a mosquito bite?”
To date, New York City has administered nearly 7,000 vaccinations,
while thousands more have been waiting for their chance to get inoculated
against the virus. Health officials said they were expecting 14,500 doses this
week.
Thus far, 267 people in New York City have tested positive for
orthopoxvirus, a category of disease that includes smallpox. Officials said
they were fairly certain that all of the new cases are likely monkeypox and
that many more cases remain undiagnosed.
Learning from its experience with the rollout of COVID vaccines,
Washington, D.C., is allowing residents to preregister for vaccination
appointments. As many as 3,000 slots were to open sometime Thursday, officials
said.
As news of the outbreak spread, Jeff Waters asked his doctor to be
vaccinated before the Baltimore man left for a trip to Europe, where cases have
been rising. “They said ‘Sorry, we just don’t have them here,’” Waters
recalled.
Weeks later, the first signs of a monkeypox hit him while at
dinner with a friend. He developed terrible headaches, a 102-degree
(38.9-degree Celsius) fever, and intense chills.
“I feel grateful. I had a mild case,” Waters said.
New York City is giving priority for the vaccine to men who have
had anonymous sex with other men or who have had multiple partners over the
past two weeks.
Symptoms include rashes or sores that resemble pimples or
blisters. They can sometimes be painful but usually not fatal. Most people
don’t require hospitalization and recover within two to four weeks.
Infections spread by direct contact with rashes, scabs or body
fluids, according the CDC. It can spread through kissing, sex and body contact.
In some cases, prolonged face-to-face exposure, as well as unwashed laundry
contaminated by the virus, could lead to infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that
commercial laboratories have been developing ways to test for the virus. The
CDC said the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis beginning this week would be accepting
samples from across the country to boost the country's testing capability.
“This will not only increase testing capacity but also make it
more convenient for providers and patients to access tests by using existing
provider-to-laboratory networks,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a
statement earlier this week.
The prevalence of gay men among people infected with the virus has
prompted fresh worries over stigmatizing LGBTQ populations.
Jay Jurden, a New York City comic, expressed concern about
his inability to secure a vaccine, particularly because of the ramifications in
a city with tens of thousands of gay men.
“If they say there’s a vaccine available, people should be able to
get it - or at least the website should work,” Jurden said. “I’m not even
saying that everyone should be able to go get it tomorrow, just that the
website should work.”
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Associated Press Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this
report.