Former president Donald Trump removes his mask after being hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images News.
On Sunday, a day after surviving an assassination attempt and the day before formally winning the Republican presidential nomination, former President Donald Trump put in a call to one of the other candidates in the race, and it wasnt President Joe Biden. Instead, Trump called Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an independent presidential candidate who has for months consistently registered some 10 percent support in polls. Kennedy Jr. is also Americas most famous opponent of vaccines, a subject Trump chose to talk about in a video recording of the phone call that Kennedy Jr.s son subsequently posted on the internet.
According to NBC reporter Brandy Zadrozny, Robert Kennedy III posted and then deleted the video of his father talking to Trump on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.Im a firm believer that these conversations should be had in public. Heres Trump giving his real opinion about vaccinating kidsthis was the day after the assassination attempt, Kennedy III wrote.
Kennedy Jr. later apologized to Trump, saying he was mortified by the posting of the video.
The video shows Kennedy Jr.who has a long history of vaccine skepticismtaking the call in a room that contains an American flag. Although the conversation is not always audible in the video, Trump clearly expressed his skepticism about childhood vaccinations. When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines, and it looks like its meant for a horse not a 10-pound or 20-pound baby. It looks like you should be giving a horse this [inaudible word], Trump told Kennedy. And did you ever see the size of this? You know its this massiveand then you see the baby all of a sudden begin to change radically. Ive seen it too many times. And then you hear that it doesnt have an impact, right?
Kennedy Jr.s candidacy has been a thorn in the side for both Trump and Biden.
Kennedy Jr. is the nephew of John F. Kennedy, the charismatic Democratic president who in 1963 was killed by an assassins bullet in Dallas. Kennedy Jr.s father, Robert F. Kennedy, attracted widespread support during a 1968 run for the presidency before being assassinated in a hotel kitchen after a Los Angles campaign event. Other members of the Kennedy family have been so worried that Kennedy Jr.s association with the famous political dynasty might draw from Bidens support that over a dozen members of the family gathered to endorse the president in April.
Yet Kennedy Jr. has also given Republicans reason for concern, with some polling showing he garners more support from Republican-leaning voters than Democratic-leaning ones. Even though they run counter to scientific evidence, Kennedy Jr.s criticisms of vaccines closely align with the attitudes of the many Republicans who turned against vaccine and masking mandates implemented at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, at one point a top contender for the Republican presidential nomination, said he might put Kennedy Jr. in a position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), both of which have a role in vaccine policy. As president-elect before his first term officially began, Trump reportedly flirted with creating a position in which Kennedy Jr. would review vaccine policy. Kennedy Jr. claimed Trump at one point offered to put him on the ticket as a candidate for vice president. On Monday, Trump reportedly met with Kennedy to discuss Kennedy dropping his presidential bid and endorsing Trump.
As he campaigns for president as an independent, Kennedy Jr. is on leave from his anti-vaccine nonprofit, Childrens Health Defense. The group posts content that links vaccines to health problems, including autism, even though such links are unsupported by scientific evidence. The theory connecting vaccine use to autism in children has its origins in an article by discredited UK doctor Andrew Wakefield in The Lancet, a prestigious scientific journal. In 2010, Britains General Medical Council, a regulatory body, found that Wakefield had been paid by lawyers working on vaccine injury claims and said that the study involved children who had been carefully selected. The Lancet retracted the article after the findings.
A variety of studies have found no connection between vaccines and autism. Even so, Kennedy Jr.s views have persisted even as he runs for president. Last July, Kennedy Jr. told a podcast that [t]heres no vaccine that is safe and effective, according to theAssociated Press.
As he runs for president for a third time, Trump has worked to court vaccine-skeptical audiences. His message to them could be tough to sell. Trump, after all, oversaw the Operation Warp Speed project that rapidly produced and distributed COVID-19 vaccines. He took the vaccine, even though it was much maligned by many Republicans, and encouraged Americans to get it themselves. That history represents a political problem for Trump amid growing resistance to vaccinesnot just to COVID-19 vaccines, but even to the routine childhood vaccines currently required by every state for every child attending public school.
Still, Trump has tried recently to distance himself from his prior support for vaccination, saying on the campaign trail that if he is elected this year, he would not allow mandates requiring COVID vaccine or masks at school. At the same time, he has claimed that he is not opposed to routine childhood vaccinations.
But the conversation between Trump and Kennedy Jr. calls into question Trumps level of support for any vaccine. In the leaked video, the former president used language about vaccines that hed used in a 2007 newspaper interview. Autism, Trump told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel then, wasnt really a factor, when he was young but had subsequently become a crisis. My theory is the shots, Trump reportedly said. Were giving these massive injections at one time, and I really think it does something to the children.
A large new study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that vaccines reduce the risk of developing long Covid.
Scientists looked at people in the United States infected during the first two years of the pandemic and found that the percentage of vaccinated people who developed long Covid was much lower than the percentage of unvaccinated people who did.
Medical experts have previously said that vaccines can lower the risk of long Covid, largely because they help prevent severe illness during the infection period and people with severe infections are more likely to have long-term symptoms.
But many individuals with mild infections also develop long Covid, and the study, published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that vaccination did not eliminate all risk of developing the condition, which continues to affect millions in the United States.
There was a residual risk of long Covid among vaccinated persons, Dr. Clifford Rosen, a senior scientist at the MaineHealth Institute for Research, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an accompanying editorial. Because of that, Dr. Rosen added, new cases of long Covid may continue unabated.
The study evaluated medical records of millions of patients in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system. It involved nearly 450,000 people who had Covid between March 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022, and about 4.7 million people who were not infected during that time.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit andlog intoyour Times account, orsubscribefor all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber?Log in.
Want all of The Times?Subscribe.
As new varieties of the coronavirus took center stage during the COVID-19 pandemic, the odds of developing long COVID dropped. Those who were vaccinated against the virus saw the biggest plunge over time.
For every 1,000 unvaccinated people, 104 developed long COVID up to one year after an infection during the pre-delta phase of the pandemic. That fell to 95 per 1,000 during the delta variants era and 78 during omicrons reign. Among vaccinated people, just 53 out of 1,000 developed long COVID up to a year after infection during delta and only 35 during omicron, researchers report July 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System data looked at people who had a COVID infection from March of 2020 the month the pandemic began to the end of January in 2022. The researchers, from the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, compared the rates of long COVID during three phases of the pandemic among those who had and had not gotten vaccinated. The first COVID vaccine was introduced in December of 2020 (SN: 12/11/20). The delta variant dominated the United States in the summer of 2021, with the omicron variant taking over beginning in December 2021 (SN: 7/2/21; SN: 12/21/21).
The rate of long COVID fell as the coronavirus evolved during the pandemic, especially for vaccinated people. The analysis focused on close to 450,000 U.S. veterans infected with COVID from March 2020 to January 2022.
A comparison of omicron infections with infections from prior eras found that 72 percent of the drop in the long COVID rate during omicron was attributable to vaccines. The remainder was due to changes in the virus and improvements in medical care and the use of antiviral treatments during the omicron phase.
Even with the steep decline in the occurrence of long COVID for vaccinated people, there is still a risk, the researchers write. With the large numbers of ongoing new infections and reinfections, and the poor uptake of vaccination, they continue, this may translate into a high number of persons with long COVID.
Questions or comments on this article? E-mail us atfeedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ
Aimee Cunningham is the biomedical writer. She has a masters degree in science journalism from New York University.
We are at a critical time and supporting science journalism is more important than ever. Science News and our parent organization, the Society for Science, need your help to strengthen scientific literacy and ensure that important societal decisions are made with science in mind.
Please subscribe to Science News and add $16 to expand science literacy and understanding.
(NewsUSA) - The viruses that cause COVID-19 and flu continuously change or mutate to escape our natural immune responses and the protection provided by vaccines. As a result, for both flu and COVID-19, vaccination is not a one and done proposition.
Fortunately, as these viruses change, flu and COVID-19 vaccines are updated to protect the public against the variants that are currently circulating.Experts at Champions for Vaccine Education, Equity, and Progress (CVEEP)a coalition dedicated to educating the public about vaccines and promoting equity and accessemphasize that the best way to reduce the risk of severe illness from both flu and COVID-19 is to stay up to date with recommended vaccinations.
Some viruses, such as those that cause measles and polio, change infrequently. This means that the vaccines for these viruses can provide immunity that is longer-lasting.By contrast, frequent changes in the viruses that cause COVID-19 and flu mean the protection provided by these vaccines will wane as new variants emerge.
Flu and COVID-19 are serious diseases. Between October 1, 2023, and June 1, 2024, there were approximately 44,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19, and at least 24,000 deaths associated with flu. These numbers highlight the ongoing importance of staying current with vaccinations to protect yourself and your family from these viruses.
Updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall that are formulated to protect against the variants that are most likely to be circulating during the upcoming respiratory illness season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines and routine annual influenza vaccines for individuals aged 6 months and older.
COVID-19 remains a serious threat to public health and still poses significant risks.Staying current on your flu and COVID-19 vaccines is the best way to maintain protection from these illnesses. Help reduce the risk of interruptions and challenges that come from upticks in flu and COVID-19 infections by getting vaccinated this fall.
Visit cveep.org/stayupdatedfor more information or consult with your healthcare provider.
A summer wave of Covid is surging in many parts of the nation. Infections, emergency room visits and hospitalizations are all on the upswing.
Recognizing that Covid is now a permanent respiratory threat, as are influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, federal officials have recommended that everyone 6 months and older receive the newest vaccine this fall.
If last year is any indication, many Americans may pay no heed, opting instead to take their chances with another bout. Nearly everyone has layers of immunity acquired from prior illnesses and immunizations. For many, another go-round with Covid just means a few days of misery.
But for some people with certain risk factors age, pregnancy, chronic conditions or a compromised immune system an infection may bring serious illness. Its very, very important that they get vaccinated, said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the chief of research and development at the V.A. St. Louis Health Care System.
In every age group, even a mild illness may trigger a lasting set of problems. Nearly 14 million Americans, or about 5.3 percent of adults, may now be living with long Covid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A study published on Wednesday offers strong evidence that vaccination reduces the odds of getting long Covid.
Its very clear that no demographic group is spared, Dr. Al-Aly said.
Yes. This summers wave is a sign that Covid remains a problem. By nearly every measure, infections are on the rise.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit andlog intoyour Times account, orsubscribefor all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber?Log in.
Want all of The Times?Subscribe.
long covid freshidea - stock.adobe.com
The risk of developing long COVID has decreased over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers attributed about 70% of this reduced risk to vaccines and 30% to changes in the virus over time and improved detection and management, according to recent research published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis led by Ziyad Al-Aly, M.D., a Washington University clinical epidemiologist, used health records from the Department of Veterans Affairs to identify 441,583 veterans who had COVID-19 between Mar. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2022. They also used about 4.7 million records of uninfected veterans as the control group.
Researchers separated everyone into eight groups, three control cohorts and five COVID-19 cohorts. The control group consisted of the those who did not have the original COVID-19 strain in 2020, the delta variant in 2021 or the omicron variant in 2022.
The COVID-19 group was made up of those who were not vaccinated during the pre-delta, delta, and omicron era and were infected as well as those who were vaccinated and were infected during the delta or omicron era.
Long COVID-19 rates were the highest in the group with the original strain, which makes sense because there was no vaccine available at this time.
In those with COVID-19, long COVID incidence during first year after infection was:
In the vaccinated, long COVID-19 rates were:
Among vaccinated persons, nearly all disease categories showed a lower cumulative incidence of [Long COVID-19] and none showed a higher cumulative incidence of [Long COVID-19] during the omicron era than during the delta era, Al-Aly writes in the study. These findings suggest that vaccine uptake will be key to maintaining the lower cumulative incidence of [Long COVID-19] relative to earlier phases of the pandemic.
Long COVID occurs in about 10% of people, no matter the severity of the initial infection, but it is more common in people who were hospitalized for COVID-19, according to the National Institutes of Health. It is characterized by a variety of symptoms that may be the same or different from the COVID-19 infection. Patients could experience symptoms anywhere in the body. They are commonly chronically fatigued and may experience infertility, shortness of breath, digestive issues, hair loss and joint pain to name a few. Symptoms can last days, weeks, months or even years. To date, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there have been a total of 7.6 million cases worldwide. In this study, health outcomes were measured using 10 categories: cardiovascular, coagulation, hematologic, fatigue, gastrointestinal, kidney, mental health, metabolic, musculoskeletal, neurologic and pulmonary.
Add topic to email alerts
Receive an email when new articles are posted on
Back to Healio
COVID-19 vaccination may grant protection against symptomatic asthma in children, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
Prophylactic benefits were seen in children receiving COVID-19 vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 infections. The vaccine may also have protective qualities from other human coronaviruses through cross-reactive antibody responses, Matthew M. Davis, MD, MAPP, executive vice president, enterprise physician-in-chief and chief scientific officer at Nemours Childrens Health, Wilmington, Delaware, and Lakshmi K. Halasyamani, MD, chief clinical officer at Endeavor Health, Evanston, Illinois, wrote.
Asthma is one of the most common chronic health conditions for children in the United States, Davis told Healio. Any opportunity to prevent asthma symptoms and keep children more healthy is appealing. My coauthor and I were aware that asthma symptoms decreased during 2020, and we wondered what factors were associated with persistently lower levels of asthma symptoms in 2021.
This cross-sectional study used state-level data from the National Survey of Childrens Health from 2018 to 2019 and 2020 to 2021, regarding parent-reported current asthma symptom prevalence in their children.
Data were also taken from the CDC from 2020 to 2021 regarding age-adjusted COVID-19 mortality rates, the proportion of population aged 5 years and older who completed the COVID-19 primary vaccination series and, through August 2021, the face mask requirements in enclosed spaces in 20 different states as well as the District of Columbia.
Davis and Halasyamani analyzed state-level change scores and time trends for the years 2020 to 2021 vs. 2018 to 2019 in parent-reported asthma symptom prevalence.
The mean prevalence of parent-reported childhood asthma symptoms on a state level decreased from 7.77% (95% CI, 7.34%-8.21%) in 2018 to 2019 to 6.93% (95% CI, 6.53%-7.32%) in 2020 to 2021. The absolute mean change was 0.85 (standard deviation [SD], 1.26) percentage points.
In terms of COVID-19 mortality rates, the mean age-adjusted rate in 2020 was 80.3 (SD, 30.2) per 100,000 population, which then increased to 99.3 (SD, 33.9) in 2021. The COVID-19 primary series vaccination rate mean through December 2021 was 72.3% (SD, 10.3%).
COVID-19 vaccination rates were inversely correlated with the COVID-19 mortality rates in 2021 (r = 0.75; P < .001). However, in 2020, that correlation was not observed (r = 0.2), but a positive correlation was seen with face mask mandates (r = 0.49; P < .001).
Parent-reported child asthma symptom prevalence decreased by 0.36 percentage points (P = .04) with each increase of 10 percentage points in COVID-19 vaccination coverage. There was no association between face mask requirements and child asthma symptom prevalence.
The top five states with the highest asthma symptom prevalence decrease between 2018 to 2019 through 2020 to 2021 were the District of Columbia (3.5), New Jersey (3.2), Maine (3.1), Nebraska (2.9) and Rhode Island (2.5). The states seeing the highest increase in prevalence were New Mexico (2.7), Utah (1.6), Wisconsin (1.4), Georgia (1.1) and Arkansas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas all at 0.6.
Davis and Halasyamani emphasized that the states in the highest quarter of COVID-19 vaccination rates showed an almost three times decrease in asthma symptoms compared with states in the lowest quarter of vaccination rates.
Specifically, asthma symptoms decreased by 1.7 percentage points for the highest quarter of states and by 0.6 percentage points for the lowest quarter between 2018 to 2019 and 2020 to 2021.
Children living in states with higher COVID-19 vaccination rates experienced lower rates of asthma symptoms than children living in states with lower COVID-19 vaccination levels, Davis said. In contrast, rates of asthma symptoms did not differ at the state level related to COVID-19 mortality rates or whether states continued to require the use of face masks in public spaces in 2021.
Davis further noted that the association of asthma symptoms with COVID-19 vaccination rates, but not with COVID-19 mortality rates, suggests that children with asthma may be benefiting from community-level vaccination coverage in two ways.
First, higher community-level vaccination rates may be connected to a higher likelihood that children with asthma are vaccinated against COVID-19 themselves, he said. Second, higher vaccination coverage at the population level may indicate that children with asthma benefited from herd immunity even if they werent vaccinated themselves ie, others protection against infection helped reduce the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus overall.
Davis and Halasyamani wrote that these findings suggest potential benefits for children with asthma from efforts to continue vaccinating children and adults against COVID-19.
It would be helpful during future pandemics of respiratory illnesses to enroll children with a history of asthma in large studies, so that analyses like this one could be conducted much more readily and with understanding at the level of an individual child with a history of asthma, Davis said.
Add topic to email alerts
Receive an email when new articles are posted on
Back to Healio
About Long COVID
Long COVID is defined as a chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least 3 months. Long COVID includes a wide range of symptoms or conditions that may improve, worsen, or be ongoing.
Long COVID occurs more often in people who had severe COVID-19 illness, but anyone who gets COVID-19 can experience it, including children.
Most people with Long COVID experience symptoms days after first learning they had COVID-19, but some people who later develop Long COVID do not know when they were infected. People can be reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 multiple times. Each time a person is infected with SARS-CoV-2, they have a risk of developing Long COVID. Long COVID symptoms and conditions can emerge, persist, resolve, and reemerge over weeks and months. These symptoms and conditions can range from mild to severe, may require comprehensive care, and can even result in a disability.
While rates of new cases of Long COVID have decreased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains a serious public health concern as millions of U.S. adults and children have been affected by Long COVID.
While anyone who gets COVID-19 can develop Long COVID, studies have shown that some groups of people are more likely to develop Long COVID than others, including (not a comprehensive list):
Health inequities from disability, economic, geographic, and other social factors disproportionately affect some groups of people. These inequities can increase the risk of negative health outcomes and impact from Long COVID.
CDC emphasizes core strategies to lower health risks from COVID-19, including severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death. Preventing severe outcomes from COVID-19 illness helps prevent Long COVID. Steps you can take to protect yourself and others include:
Long COVID is not one illness. There is no laboratory test that can determine if your symptoms or conditions are due to Long COVID. A positive SARS-CoV-2 test is not required for a Long COVID diagnosis. Your healthcare provider considers a diagnosis of Long COVID based on:
Clinical evaluations and results of routine blood tests, chest X-rays, and electrocardiograms may be normal in someone with Long COVID. People experiencing Long COVID should seek care from a healthcare provider to create a personal medical management plan and improve their symptoms and quality of life. Talk to your healthcare provider if you think you or your child has Long COVID.
Some people experiencing Long COVID symptoms have symptoms similar to those reported by people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and other poorly understood chronic illnesses that may occur after other infections. These unexplained symptoms or conditions may be misunderstood by healthcare providers, which can result in a delay in diagnosis and people receiving the appropriate care or treatment.
Studies are in progress to learn more about Long COVID and identify further measures to help prevent Long COVID. CDC and partners use multiple approaches to support and conduct research that estimates:
Each approach helps CDC and its partners better understand Long COVID and how healthcare providers can treat or support patients living with these long-term effects. CDC posts data on Long COVID and provides analyses. The most recent CDC data and analyses on Long COVID can be found on the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey. CDC will continue to share information with healthcare providers to help them evaluate and manage these conditions.
(NewsUSA) - The viruses that cause COVID-19 and flu continuously change or mutate to escape our natural immune responses and the protection provided by vaccines. As a result, for both flu and COVID-19, vaccination is not a one and done proposition.
Fortunately, as these viruses change, flu and COVID-19 vaccines are updated to protect the public against the variants that are currently circulating.Experts at Champions for Vaccine Education, Equity, and Progress (CVEEP)a coalition dedicated to educating the public about vaccines and promoting equity and accessemphasize that the best way to reduce the risk of severe illness from both flu and COVID-19 is to stay up to date with recommended vaccinations.
Some viruses, such as those that cause measles and polio, change infrequently. This means that the vaccines for these viruses can provide immunity that is longer-lasting.By contrast, frequent changes in the viruses that cause COVID-19 and flu mean the protection provided by these vaccines will wane as new variants emerge.
Flu and COVID-19 are serious diseases. Between October 1, 2023, and June 1, 2024, there were approximately 44,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19, and at least 24,000 deaths associated with flu. These numbers highlight the ongoing importance of staying current with vaccinations to protect yourself and your family from these viruses.
Updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines will be available this fall that are formulated to protect against the variants that are most likely to be circulating during the upcoming respiratory illness season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines and routine annual influenza vaccines for individuals aged 6 months and older.
COVID-19 remains a serious threat to public health and still poses significant risks.Staying current on your flu and COVID-19 vaccines is the best way to maintain protection from these illnesses. Help reduce the risk of interruptions and challenges that come from upticks in flu and COVID-19 infections by getting vaccinated this fall.
Visit cveep.org/stayupdatedfor more information or consult with your healthcare provider.
by Lynn Beltran, Salt Lake County Health Department
Salt Lake County Health Department has seen an increase in mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) cases in the last two months. While its easy to think the risk to the community has gone away since the initial outbreak in the summer of 2022, we want people who may be at risk to be informed and protected.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that while cases have declined sharply since 2022, the U.S. continues to identify about 60 new cases per week across the country. Most of those cases are in people who are not vaccinated against mpox, or who only received one shot of the vaccine. (Spoiler alert: Its not too late to get your second shot, even if your first was in 2022!)
Getting the mpox vaccine is also now a bit of a time-sensitive issue, as the vaccine (called Jynneos) that protects against mpox is about to become costly. With the initial outbreak in 2022, Utahs public health system received a supply of free vaccines to administer to people in the community who were most at risk of infection. That initial free supply will expire at the end of October, and after that (or once the free supply is used up), people who need the vaccine will need to pay for it out of pocket ($275 per dose!) or use their health insurance.
It is important to know that the illness caused by the mpox virus is not mild. Most people who get infected are seriously ill for several weeks or longer. Most infections include painful lesions on the body or in the genital area, and lesions may also appear on the face. Lesions often continue to appear for several weeks and can be very painful. Many people who have the virus also experience significant flu-like symptoms, and some may have difficulty swallowing or defecating, which can lead to hospitalization.
Mpox is spread through close contact with an infected partner. This could include sexual contact and skin-to-skin contact thats not sexual. Even prolonged, close face-to-face interactions can spread pox. People who are not vaccinated or who have only one dose of vaccine are more likely to suffer longer-lasting and more severe symptoms.
Its an incredible public health win to have a vaccine available for a sexually transmitted infection. If most of the people who are at risk in a community are vaccinated, protective herd immunity is more likely to occur, and that can lead to zero new infections.
The mpox vaccine is a two-dose vaccine, where you should get the second shot no earlier than 28 days after the first shot. It is never too late to get that second dose, even if it has been two years since your first shot.
Salt Lake County Health Department still has a few hundred doses of free mpox vaccine to give out before the expiration date. We recommend the vaccine for all men who have sex or are intimate with men, as well as transmen and transwomen who have sex or are intimate with men.
Get your mpox vaccine now, before we run out of free supply, and before youll have to pay $550 for it yourself. Call 385-468-SHOT from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to make an appointment. Same-day appointments are often available.
