Another batch of monkeypox vaccination appointments for New Yorkers is expected to open on Sunday, days after the city opened its first clinic and met high demand in the run-up to Pride weekend.
According to the city update on Friday, at least 39 people have tested positive for the virus in the city since early May, almost all of them men who have sex with men. The number of cases is up 30% from the Health Department report the day before.
The city began offering monkeypox vaccination Thursday to at-risk groups, but demand was so high that within hours of the program’s launch, the city had to cancel walk-ins. Scheduled appointments have already been booked through early next week.
Unlike in the early days of COVID, when there was no effective treatment, there are already multiple vaccines that work against the orthopoxvirus that causes the disease. Supply, however, is the issue.