San Francisco set to receive more than 4,000 monkeypox vaccine doses this week
Jynneos monkeypox vaccine.
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Department of Public Health on Wednesday said the city is set to receive 4,220 monkeypox vaccine doses this week. Health officials say it is unclear when those doses will arrive.
They did not say how the Jynneos vaccine would be distributed, but they will keep everyone posted on when the walk-in clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital resumes.
The hospital clinic closed this week on Monday after administering 550 doses of the two-dose vaccine. The city's health department announced last week that they would focus on first-doses since the vaccine is in short supply.
The city's latest information indicates there are 222 monkeypox cases in San Francisco as of Tuesday.
Over the weekend, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency. The Bay Area has notably emerged as an epicenter in this outbreak.
The outbreak has disproportionately affected men who have sex with men, although monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease or infection. It is, however, spread through skin on skin contact as well as kissing, breathing at close range and sharing bedding or clothing.
Local advocates and lawmakers have been outspoken on the slow response on the state and federal levels. But they've also sought to de-stigmatize monkeypox as a LGBTQ or gay men's disease.
In addition, we reported this week that the Latino community accounts for 30% of San Francisco monkeypox cases. Now Santa Clara County health officials are reporting similar findings where 41% of cases are among Hispanic or Latino gay and bisexual men.
This additional procurement of monkeypox vaccine in San Francisco is in addition to about 4,000 doses received last week. The two-dose Jynneos vaccine is to be taken about one month apart. Infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin Hong told KTVU this week that one dose can give you protection for as long as two years.
The vaccine is only manufactured in a warehouse located in Denmark.
Information on SF monkeypox vaccine eligibility and clinics: https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox-vaccine
How much protection does one dose of monkeypox vaccine offer?
Dr. Peter Chin Hong says he agrees with the strategy to focus on first doses of the monkeypox vaccine. He says one dose can offer up to two years of protection, although the Jynneos vaccine is a two-dose regimen. Part of the problem with access to the vaccine is that it is only manufactured in one factory in Denmark.