Dallas receives 5,000 more doses of monkeypox vaccine, but will it be enough?

Dallas County obtained greater than 5,100 doses of the monkeypox vaccine Monday after days of ready for extra provides from the federal authorities.

Whereas the inflow of doses is nice information as circumstances of the virus proceed to rise, the county well being division will probably should make the vaccines final by means of the subsequent month. The Texas Division of State Well being Providers was advised extra vaccines received’t be accessible till late August or early September, spokesperson Chris Van Deusen stated.

Dallas County has at the very least 83 confirmed and eight suspected monkeypox circumstances, making up the most important division of circumstances within the state. The county obtained almost 35% of the 14,780 Jynneos doses DSHS bought over the weekend.

At present, the county is limiting vaccines to individuals who have had recognized skin-to-skin contact with an contaminated particular person, a quantity that’s growing with each confirmed case.

“We’ve got 5,000 doses, however it’s not that a lot once you actually begin wanting on the numbers,” stated the county’s high well being official, Dr. Philip Huang.

The county goals to ultimately increase vaccine appointments to extra folks, however it will depend on what number of doses are made accessible, Huang stated. Cities throughout the nation are scrambling to stretch vaccine provides to fight the smallpox-like virus amid a nationwide scarcity.

On Saturday, the World Well being Group declared monkeypox’s unfold a world well being emergency. Greater than 16,000 circumstances have been confirmed throughout 75 nations, with the U.S. accounting for almost 2,900 of them, as of July 22.

Texas’ case depend — 107 as of July 22 — is growing, however it’s nonetheless a lot decrease than another elements of the nation. New York reported 900 circumstances, whereas California reported 356, based on Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention knowledge.

The U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers introduced July 15 that it positioned an order for two.5 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine, including to a earlier 2.5 million-dose order made July 1. The doses ought to start arriving late this 12 months.

Monkeypox causes flu-like signs and a rash that appears like blisters, based on the CDC. It primarily spreads by means of contact with physique fluids, lesions and contaminated objects like clothes and bedding.

Latest circumstances have been largely reported in males who’ve intercourse with males, though folks of any sexual orientation might contract the illness, well being specialists say.

Dallas County highlighted two potential sources of public publicity to the virus: the Daddyland pageant, which occurred from June 29 to July 4, and a sauna known as Membership Dallas, the place an contaminated customer had a number of sexual encounters between June 22 and June 25.

The monkeypox vaccine presents the very best probability to stop the onset of the illness when given inside 4 days of a monkeypox publicity. If given inside 14 days of publicity, the vaccine could scale back signs, however it could not forestall the sickness.