MDH expects 7,600 more monkeypox vaccines as virus leads to another health emergency
MINNEAPOLIS - The Biden administration is declaring a public health emergency for the monkeypox outbreak in the United States, which now counts more infections from the virus than any other country in the world.
"Monkeypox doesn't care how you identify or who you have sex with," Bridget Daniels, a nurse at Hennepin County Health's Red Door Clinic, told WCCO. "It's a virus that spreads through close contact. We don't want people to suffer. We don't want people to be miserable or feel pain."
By declaring a public health emergency, White House officials explained they'll be able to "explore additional strategies to get vaccines and treatments more quickly out to the impacted communities" and "allow us to get more data from jurisdictions so we can effectively track and attack this outbreak."
Red Door was the first clinic in Minnesota to identify a monkeypox case. As of Thursday, health officials reported 44 total cases.
"The best way I can describe the lesions is they start out flat and become raised up, almost like little cheerios with indented or darkened centers," Daniels added. "We're really focused on direct, skin to skin contact. We're not worried about risks walking down the street, standing in line with people, concerts where people are clothed. We're not worried about those risks for monkeypox. It's really your intimate contacts."
According to providers at Red Door, patients are predominantly gay men, but they've also treated at least one woman.
"It's important to know that anyone can get monkeypox, but it just so happens is circulating among men who are sexual with men," Pam Layton, another nurse at Red Door, said. "We've had patients with lesions on their hands, their arms. If you have a roommate and you're in close proximity or you're touching them, there's a potential to spread that."
The Minnesota Department of Health has received 3,000 vaccines to date, which administrators said has been distributed to clinics that specialize in sexual health.
"Three thousand doses is not enough vaccine to get everyone that is at highest risk for disease, so we are giving the vaccine to clinics that are the highest proportion of people that are at highest risk for disease," Jessica Munroe, MDH Vaccine Management Supervisor, told WCCO. "We can only order what we have available to us."
According to MDH, the state receives vaccines from the national stockpile, and what the state can order is determined by the federal government's formula for apportioning supplies. Munroe said the state is expecting an additional 7,600 doses of the two-shot regiment within the next six weeks.