NYC Monkeypox Vaccine Appointments Reopen After 26K-Dose Shipment

NEW YORK CITY — Monkeypox vaccine appointments will reopen after a much-anticipated, nearly 26,000-dose shipment arrived in New York City, officials said.

Bookings for 17,000 doses begin online and by phone Friday at 6 p.m., health officials said.

The vaccinations come amid a worrying surge in monkeypox cases and sustained anger by at-risk New Yorkers over both the meager supply of doses and repeated glitches in their rollout. Their frustrations were evident when the health department tweeted out an announcement for the next round of appointments.

"You guys suck at your job," one Twitter user replied. "Literally learned nothing from the past two years."

The city has seen 778 cases of monkeypox as of Thursday, officials said — they stood at 618 just four days earlier.

For many, including Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, the growing surge in monkeypox cases, the lack of widespread treatment options and dearth of available vaccines recalls the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Levine this week openly worried that the window for containing monkeypox is "closing fast."

Jay Varma, a former senior health adviser for the city, recently tweeted that the latest data indicates many people have been "likely exposed who have yet to develop rash & be diagnosed."

"This #monkeypox curve is worrisome," he tweeted.

Nearly all monkeypox cases so far are among the social networks of men who have sex with men, but health officials have repeatedly stressed that anyone is susceptible.

Still, the city's health officials have been debating over how to dispense health advice to gay men without stigmatizing them over their sexual behavior.

The latest prevention advice from the city states that having sex or other intimate contact with multiple or anonymous people, such as through social media, dating apps or at parties, increases the risk of exposure.

"Clubs, raves, saunas, sex parties and other places with skin-to-skin or face-to-face contact with many people may also increase your risk of exposure, especially if people are wearing less clothing," the advice states. "For gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, these activities currently put them at high risk for exposure."

Vaccine eligibility so far is limited to, according to the city's health department:

• Gay, bisexual, or other man who has sex with men, and/or transgender, gender non-conforming, or gender non-binary.
• Age 18 or older.
• Have had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the last 14 days.

The 17,000-appointment pool will include 10,600 for three days of mass vaccinations on July 24, July 30 and July 31, health officials said.

Those mass vaccination sites will be:

• Brooklyn: Science Skills Center High School, 49 Flatbush Ave Ext., Brooklyn, NY 11201
• Queens: IS 125, 46-02 47 Ave., Woodside, NY 11377
• Bronx: Bronx High School of Science, 75 W 205th St, Bronx NY 10468

Other appointments will be for health department-run sexual health clinics in Chelsea, East Harlem and Corona, officials said. And a further batch of bookings will open at Gotham Health, Vanderbilt on Staten Island and Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx — all of which are run by NYC Health + Hospitals.

About 3,850 doses will be set aside for referrals from community-based organizations that serve higher-risk New Yorkers, officials said.

And, finally, all remaining doses from the 26,000-dose batch will be for provider-administered vaccinations, as well as contacts of known cases, according to the health department.

Appointments can be booked on the city's vaccine portal at vax4nyc.nyc.gov/monkeypox or by calling 877-829-4692.

More information about monkeypox can be found here.