Solano County reports first confirmed monkeypox case

The Solano County Department of Health and Social Services has confirmed the first case of monkeypox and identified two more probable cases pending CDC confirmation.

As of Tuesday, there were 250 probable and confirmed cases in the state of California. Nationwide there were 1,972 confirmed and probable cases according to the CDC.

Monkeypox is a rare disease, but experts warn it can be serious. It is spread primarily through sustained close respiratory contact or physical contact with the lesions of someone with active symptoms. However, the current risk to the public is very low.

Demand for the monkeypox vaccine, remained high in the Bay Area, though the rollout has been slow.

The vaccine, which is 85-percent effective in preventing infection and lessening the severity of the disease, is not readily available.

Last week, State Senator Scott Wiener told KTVU San Francisco was approved to receive more than 4,100 doses of monkeypox vaccine by this week.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health said they had requested an additional 35,000 doses of the vaccine from the federal government, much higher than the 4,100 doses they are expected to receive.

Frustrations about the public health response were growing across the Bay Area. Oakland Vice-Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and LGBTQ+ leaders sent a letter to federal, state, and local health leaders on Tuesday asking for a stronger response to the outbreak.

"I know our local County health officials are working to expand access, but for this to work, they need access to greater vaccine supplies, which requires stronger Federal action to ensure rapid expansion of supply," the group wrote.

"We also must recognize that when a virus is allowed to spread anywhere it increases risks to everyone," they wrote. "We are now seeing monkeypox outbreaks in more places and amongst more communities. We must avoid repeating some of the same mistakes which took place early in the AIDS pandemic, in which some communications suggested that only LGBTQ+ people were at risk."