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More monkeypox vaccines are now available in the greater St. Louis region, and who is eligible to receive them has been expanded. But there still aren’t enough vaccines available to immunize the people who want the shot as a preventive measure, say state and local officials. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has designated the St. Louis County Department of Public Health as among the state’s hubs for distributing monkeypox vaccines.
The Missouri DHSS has created an online survey to identify people at high risk for contracting monkeypox and who may qualify for the expanded round of vaccines. “People interested in being vaccinated should fill out the survey [online],” says Christopher Ave, director of communications for the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. “The state gives us the survey results for the St. Louis region—St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles County, and Jefferson County. We go through the results and contact the persons if they are eligible and when we have vaccine to offer them.”
Eligibility for vaccination has been expanded from individuals who’ve had close contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox to include individuals considered at-risk under CDC guidelines for contracting the virus. Vaccination as a “pre-exposure prophylaxis” is not being offered at this time, according to the Missouri DHSS.
Monkeypox, which causes a rash that can look like blisters, is spread through close skin-to-skin contact. Although anyone can get monkeypox, men who have sex with men have been most affected by the virus. Those at higher risk of contracting monkeypox, health officials say, include “people who have been identified by public health officials as a contact of someone with confirmed monkeypox, and people who may have been exposed to monkeypox, such as those who are aware that one of their sexual partners in the past two weeks has been diagnosed with monkeypox and those who had multiple sexual partners in the past two weeks in an area with known monkeypox.”
In the United States, there are two vaccines that can be used to prevent monkeypox: JYNNEOS and ACAM2000, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which notes, in part, “JYNNEOS is FDA-approved for monkeypox and smallpox, while ACAM2000 is approved for smallpox but has been granted an expanded access Investigational New Drug (EA-IND) protocol to allow its use for monkeypox. Both vaccines are thought to be at 85% effective at preventing monkeypox.”
The Missouri DHSS says it has distributed 1,900 vials of monkeypox vaccine for use within the greater St. Louis region and for distribution to other areas of the state that may experience an increase in need for vaccine availability.
LGBTQ advocates nationwide have said the federal government’s response to monkeypox has been too slow and is missing communities of color. The Biden administration last week announced a pilot program that will make up to 50,000 monkeypox vaccine doses available from the Strategic National Stockpile to states and localities to distribute at LGBTQ events in order to better reach at-risk communities, including Black and Latino individuals, Politico reports. The CDC has said states’ requests for doses must include “how they will address health equity in delivery of both messaging as well as vaccine.”
When Missouri might receive more vaccines is uncertain. The supply issue is one that is affecting countries worldwide, Ave says. The state has a reported 25 cases of monkeypox, according to the CDC. Locally, Ave says, area health officials are talking with members of LGBTQ organizations and communities and adds, “We are obviously listening carefully.”
