Dozens of monkeypox vaccines being administered in Baltimore

Dozens of monkeypox vaccines are being administered in Baltimore over the next two days.Officials from the Baltimore City Health Department and Chase Brexton held a news conference Tuesday morning to address monkeypox.Maryland has 87 presumed and confirmed cases as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa said 21 cases have been reported in the Baltimore metro area.”The general public needs to know that monkeypox is here in Baltimore, and they need to understand the symptoms and common transmission methods of the virus,” Dzirasa said.| LINK: Baltimore City Health Department monkeypox informationDzirasa said Chase Brexton has started the first day of a two-day vaccination clinic with 60 doses of the monkeypox vaccine. All appointments for the vaccine have been filled, and no walk-ins are being accepted.So far, the CDC has been slow to distribute vaccines. According to the Baltimore City Health Department, Maryland has received 3,300 shots from the national stockpile. Of that, the city received 200 vaccine doses, and officials are working to get more supply to Baltimore, Dzirasa said.”We’re doing what we can to secure as many doses as we can, as quickly as possible, and we do anticipate receiving more doses in future phases of distribution,” Dzirasa said. “Everyone in the healthcare space in Maryland — providers, community advocates, elected officials and state as well as local health departments — are advocating for more doses for our residents.”Dzirasa said the health department is allocating its current doses as follows: 75 doses for Chase Brexton health care, 60 for contact-tracing efforts and 65 for BCHD clinics and services.”We’re actively working to distribute those doses in an equitable way so that individuals at highest risk of contracting and spreading monkeypox here in Baltimore,” Dzirasa said.| LINK: Maryland Department of Health monkeypox informationDzirasa said officials are conducting outreach, education and prevention efforts.”We will continue to evaluate where we are with cases and what additional resources and support are needed and will work with city leaders to get what we need to actively respond,” Dzirasa said.The health department is also making efforts toward reaching out to the LGBTQIA+ community, which finds itself disproportionally affected by the virus.”The biggest concern is why. The second is being able to get a handle on it as quickly as possible,” said Renee Lau, senior housing manager with Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization that helps at-risk members of the LGBTQIA+ community. “Why it’s targeting the LBGT community is probably more concerned for an organization like us, and making sure that we notify the community as a whole.”Baltimore Safe Haven is organizing a mobile outreach program, working side by side with the city to get the community informed about moneypox, all in hopes of stopping the spread.”It is very important to get this information out because we don’t need another epidemic, especially in the LGBT community,” Lau said.The chief of the World Health Organization on Saturday said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that now qualifies as a global emergency.| LINK: CDC monkeypox informationThe health department said the virus spreads through close, personal or skin-to-skin contact with someone who has monkeypox that includes the touching of rashes, sores, body fluids or scabs by hugging, kissing, touching or intimate or sexual contact. It can also be spread by coming into contact with clothing, bedding, linens, towels contaminated by fluids or sores.Symptoms of monkeypox usually begin a week to two weeks after exposure, but can range from five to 21 days, and can include fever, chills, body/muscle/headaches, swollen lymph nodes and fatigue.Anyone with questions can call the Baltimore City Health Department’s Division of Population Health and Disease Prevention at 410-396-4436.11 TV Hill video below: What exactly is monkeypox? How is it spread?

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