The Jynneos vaccine requires two doses to be fully protective, according to the Food and Drug Administration, but so far all doses arrivi...
The Jynneos vaccine requires two doses to be fully protective, according to the Food and Drug Administration, but so far all doses arriving in the city are considered first doses. As more doses arrive, there will be more available for second doses, said state health commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.
Paul Chaplin, the chief executive of Bavarian Nordic, which makes the vaccine, said on Thursday that research shows one dose provides “a very robust level of protection.” Dr Bassett, however, said full protection from the vaccine would not come until two weeks after the second dose.
New York health officials have said people in any of the following categories are eligible for the vaccine:
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People who have been exposed to monkeypox in the past 14 days.
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People at high risk of recent exposure to monkeypox, including members of the gay, bisexual, transgender and other men who have sex with men communities who have had intimate or skin-to-skin contact with others during past 14 days in areas where monkeypox is spreading.
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People who have had skin-to-skin contact with someone in a social network where monkeypox is spreading, including men who have sex with men who meet partners through an online website, digital app or a social event, like a bar or party.
Partly because the categories are broad, demand for the vaccine is extremely high.
Eugene Resnick, who works as a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said he spent nine hours refreshing the city’s web page before he could finally make an appointment after 6 p.m.
“I am frustrated, angry, disappointed with the Department of Health,” he said. “I am an insider who works in the government. I can’t imagine this being at all accessible to the average person who isn’t on Twitter.
At a news conference on Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams said the city is distributing vaccine doses as soon as it receives them. “We don’t just ignore it,” he said. “There was a problem with the third-party vendor that made the website, but we pivoted and changed and we’re getting the vaccines out.”
Joseph Osmundson, a microbiologist and queer activist helping to increase access to the vaccine, said the city had done the right thing by opening the Harlem clinic, but there needed to be a more urgent effort to provide more of vaccines to the city soon.
“At all levels, there is such frustration in the community,” Mr. Osmundson said. He said people he knows are trying to be cautious but are increasingly angry at what they feel is a lack of urgency to protect the gay community in particular: “We feel like ‘be left behind and then blamed for the spread.”
Nate Schweber contributed reporting.
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