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NYC monkeypox: 25,000 more monkeypox vaccine doses on the way

By FOX 5 NY Staff
Updated  July 20, 2022 6:59pm EDT
Monkeypox
FOX 5 NY

NYC is epicenter of U.S. monkeypox outbreak

More monkeypox vaccines are coming to New York as the state and, specifically, New York City, have become the epicenter of the outbreak across the U.S., but local health officials and elected leaders are clamoring for more doses of the vaccine.

NEW YORK - New York City’s next monkeypox vaccine allocation will be 25,693 doses, according to city officials as they say the city is the current epicenter of the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S.

Demand for the monkeypox vaccine has greatly outstripped supply in NYC and has overwhelmed the city's healthcare system.

Mass vaccination sites opened across the city, but they require appointments.

The city previously received 21,500 doses.  All of the appointments were quickly reserved when they were made available.

The city’s new allocation includes 23,963 doses directly from the federal government as well as 2,000 from New York State.

"We appreciate the additional vaccines from the federal government and continue to push for more doses to be allocated to NYC, which is the current epicenter of the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S.," said Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. "The Department has the capacity to get these doses to New Yorkers quickly and we look forward to announcing our distribution plans in the days ahead."

New appointments will go online soon. New Yorkers can sign up for text notifications to receive alerts about monkeypox in NYC, including appointment releases, by texting MONKEYPOX to 692692 or MONKEYPOXESP for alerts in Spanish.

This most recent allocation will join the 21,500 doses that have already been allocated to New York City. The last round of 9,200 public appointments went online on July 15. In addition to the 9,200 doses – from an allocation of 14,500 – another 4,000 doses were held for direct referrals from community-based organizations serving people at higher risk, with the remainder for direct contacts of confirmed contacts.