New Yorkers line up with monkeypox vaccine

Brooklyn — Sunday was the first of three days of a monkeypox mass vaccination event in the city the following week.

Science Skills Center High School in downtown Brooklyn, Woodside Middle School in Queens, and Bronx High School are three mass vaccination sites in the city that opened on Sunday to meet new appointments.

“I’m not angry about vaccination, and I’m not so angry in the city,” said Drew Westfar, who was in Brooklyn.

What you need to know

• New York City health officials made 17,000 new monkeypox vaccine reservations available on Friday
• The city says it has received 26,000 new doses of vaccine from state and federal partners.
• The site will continue to operate on July 30th and 31st

Westphal was one of the lucky New Yorkers. 17,000 new vaccine reservation slots It was opened for a new dose on Friday.

“I put it in my calendar so I could be in front of my computer at that time. I made a reservation around 6:02,” he said.

“I waited until 6 pm on Friday and wanted to get it within 30 seconds,” said Brian Pirollu. “I tried to change the schedule after 10 minutes, but everything disappeared.”

New York City officials announced last week that they had received 26,000 new doses of monkeypox vaccine from the state and federal governments.

Some of these doses are also available at Chelsea, East Harlem, Corona Sexual Health Clinics, Staten Island Vaccination Sites, and Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx.

In Brooklyn, many people were waiting online to receive the vaccine, but not everyone was able to take a new promise.

“Some people did,” said Richard Clark. “Some people didn’t. I think it depended on the randomness of how they chose their promises.”

Clark made an appointment at the Brooklyn location on Sunday, but said many of his friends didn’t sign up in time. He said he shared information about the vaccine hotline with them.

“I went to the New York health site and was just refreshing until it was displayed and the window closed immediately,” said Vincent Vega, who came all the way to Brooklyn to get the vaccine. Told.

However, many, from everyday New Yorkers to elected officials and supporters, were critical of what they saw as slow deployment of the vaccine.

“They’ve been waiting so long that it went out and is now a bigger problem than it should be,” said Daniel Sutton, who was vaccinated in Brooklyn.

“I think some of them are the stigma of the LGBTQ community that still exists,” says Sutton. “This kind of thing happened when HIV became a problem and wasn’t taken seriously until it started affecting everyone else.”

Clark said he was worried about the strange community of colors that had access to the vaccine.

“The government has never cared about the queer community, especially the color queer community, so it’s always our responsibility to keep us safe,” he said.

Due to the increasing number of cases of monkeypox, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency last week.

The latest figures from New York City health officials released Friday show an estimated infection of 839, up from 778 the day before.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff emphasizes that anyone can be infected with the virus. Two children and eight women are among more than 2,800 US cases.

However, health officials said most US cases are now among men who have sex with men — the highest-risk individuals.

Westphal said he had been vaccinated. “With all of the direct anti-LGBTQ events happening across the country, this is a public health program that seeks to help LGBTQ people at high risk of developing illness within them. Circle now. increase.”

All three mass vaccination sites will also be operational on July 30th and 31st.

Currently, all appointments have been met, but the City Health Department recommends that those targeted for shots continue to check for slots that may be available on the city’s vaccine portal. ..