NYC Monkeypox Cases Double In Just One Week, Officials Say

NEW YORK CITY — Monkeypox cases in New York City doubled in just one week as the city awaited a resupply of vaccines to protect against the still-rare virus, health officials said.

As of Tuesday, 111 people in the city were diagnosed with likely monkeypox, according to a Department of Health tweet.

The number of presumed cases stood at 55 on June 28, officials said.

Most cases have been mild so far, health officials said.

"The current cases are primarily spreading among social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, so this community is currently at greater risk of exposure," a department of health update states.

The growth in cases coincided with frustrations about the rollout of a monkeypox vaccine.

A single clinic in Chelsea had received the city's first 1,000 doses of vaccine and quickly ran out, the New York Times reported.

Federal officials approved the city for an allotment of nearly 6,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine, and those have only arrived this week, health officials said.

"We plan to make appointments available starting this afternoon," the health department tweeted Wednesday morning.

📣 UPDATE: Monkeypox vaccine doses have arrived in NYC! We plan to make appointments available starting 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗻.

Check back to schedule an appointment: https://t.co/hR9Yuw1w2G
— nychealthy (@nycHealthy) July 6, 2022

More information about vaccinations, when they're available, can be found here.

The first monkeypox case in the city was detected May 19, and the virus has steadily spread.

Even mild monkeypox illness can yield itchy and painful sores, experts warn.

The virus is most often spread through direct contact with a rash or sores of someone who has the virus, which can happen during sex and other intimate activities, health officials said.