Philadelphia’s monkeypox vaccine supply is getting a big boost, allowing more people to get the shot

Monkeypox vaccines will be offered more widely in Philadelphia, with more shots arriving after case counts have doubled in recent days.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health began Tuesday inviting recent patients at the city’s sexually transmitted infection clinic who identified as men who have sex with men to get doses. It also introduced a retooled phone line to help people exposed to the virus make an appointment for vaccination.

The city is following the lead of other large urban health systems in bucking federal recommendations to hold supplies in reserve for a second dose in a month in order to get vaccines out in the face of a widening national outbreak.

Vaccines still won’t be as widely available in the city as health experts have said is needed to fully contain the virus.

» READ MORE: Exposed to monkeypox? Here’s how to get a vaccination appointment in Philly

The city’s access to vaccines is improving. Just last week, Philadelphia had 225 doses of Jynneos, the monkeypox vaccine supplied by the federal government. This week, the city received 1,360 more doses, with 1,020 more expected soon.

That is allowing Philadelphia to expand vaccination beyond people who have already been exposed to the virus.

The vaccine should ideally be administered four days after exposure but can be effective up to two weeks after a person is exposed to an infected person if there are no symptoms present.

The first dose provides robust protection against the virus, health experts have said, with a second shot ensuring that protection is more long-lasting.

The health department feels confident that giving people single doses, even if a second dose isn’t available within a month, won’t put people at risk.

“If you miss that four-week window, it’s OK,” said James Garrow, a spokesperson for the health department. “The literature says the first dose is protective for a period of time.”

For personal protection, the city health department recommended people ask a series of questions before being intimate with someone:

“If they answer yes to any of those questions, you should avoid close contact and use gloves or avoid touching things that they have touched,” Garrow said.

Additional information and recommendations on the virus are posted on a city blog at https://www.phila.gov/2022-07-19-the-latest-on-monkeypox-in-philadelphia/.

» READ MORE: Monkeypox is almost nothing like COVID. Here’s what to know, from two Philly scientists who’ve studied it

The monkeypox outbreak so far has not been fatal in the United States, but the virus causes extremely painful lesions that can last up to a month.

Monkeypox has been spreading overwhelmingly among men who have sex with other men. While it is not a sexually transmitted disease, the intimate contact involved with sex creates ideal conditions for the virus to spread.

The virus can be transmitted through direct contact with the rashes or lesions it causes, as well as by touching material that has been in contact with an infected person. Transmission through air is possible but much less likely. Health officials recommend people with the virus isolate.

The official number of cases is widely considered an undercount but in Philadelphia had grown to 33 as of Monday, almost double the count of 17 on Friday. Philadelphia’s monkeypox cases make up more than half of the 61 cases reported in Pennsylvania. The case count nationally has grown to almost 2,000.

Health experts have said controlling the virus will require a more proactive approach, vaccinating the population at high risk of exposure to the virus before they’ve encountered it.

Philadelphia is largely limiting vaccine access to people who have been exposed to the virus, with priority given to people identified through contact tracing as having been exposed to a person with a confirmed monkeypox case.

The city is also making vaccines available to patients seen in the last three months at Health Center 1 — the city’s sexually transmitted infection clinic just off Broad Street in South Philadelphia — who identified as men who have sex with men.

» READ MORE: Pa. receives first major shipment of monkeypox vaccine, with half of the 450 doses going to Philly

Meanwhile, people who have been exposed to the virus can call 215-685-5488 to determine whether they are eligible for vaccination. Self-reported exposures aren’t as high a priority as people with exposure confirmed through contact tracing, Garrow said.

By prioritizing first doses, Philadelphia is following the example set by New York City, which in turn is copying the approach to vaccination in Britain and Canada, according to that city’s health department.

Philadelphia, though, is still not planning on making the doses as widely available as in other cities seeing larger outbreaks.

» READ MORE: Monkeypox vaccines coming to Philly, but health officials say it’s not enough

In New York, any adult men, whether gay, bisexual, trans, or gender nonconforming or nonbinary, who have had anonymous sex or multiple sexual encounters with other men over the last 14 days are eligible for vaccination. Washington has a broader eligibility list, including transgender women or nonbinary persons assigned male at birth who have sex with men, sex workers of any gender or orientations, and staff at establishments where sexual activity occurs.

Philly’s outbreak caseload hasn’t reached the numbers seen in cities like New York, which has reported more than 600 cases, or Washington, which has more cases per capita than any state with 122, according to the Washington Post.

“HHS has been focusing [vaccine distribution] very much on places where they’re seeing a huge number of cases,” Garrow said. “We just haven’t seen as many cases.”

At the Mazzoni Center, a Philadelphia health clinic focused on LGBTQ patients, a spokesperson noted even health-care workers who treat people with monkeypox have not yet been prioritized for vaccination.