Category: Monkey Pox Vaccine

The vaccination process is a two-dose series. It is given 28 days apart and helps prevent the spread of monkeypox.

ST. LOUIS More people are eligible for the monkeypox vaccine in the St. Louis region.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has expanded eligibility for the vaccine to include anyone who is likely to be exposed to the virus.

Anybody who meets the criteria below from the Department of Health is now eligible for the monkeypox vaccine:

The vaccination process is a two-dose series. It is given 28 days apart and helps prevent the spread of monkeypox.

Vaccines are available across the St. Louis region. The locations ask people to bring their insurance card and a photo ID to their appointment. The locations listed below will provide vaccination if you do not have insurance.

Find the locations available and how to schedule your appointment below:

See more here:

Monkeypox vaccination eligibility expanded in St. Louis region - KSDK.com

The monkeypox outbreak has hit Baltimore the hardest of all Maryland jurisdictions, with about a third of the states cases, leaving some of the most vulnerable uninsured and underinsured unable to get the vaccine.

But with more supplies coming from federal sources, and a partnership with the Baltimore Health Department, Nomi Health will begin offering shots through a health clinic on the west side of downtown and a mobile van, the city health commissioner, Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, and other officials announced Tuesday.

This will really increase our capacity, said Adena Greenbaum, assistant Baltimore health commissioner for clinical services and HIV/STI prevention, on a clinic tour ahead of the announcement. We will be able to go beyond the health department and other partners in the community.

The increased availability of shots comes as the monkeypox virus outbreak appears to be on the wane in the United States. the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week an average of about 60 cases a day down from a high of 580 in early August. That may be due to some vaccinations and lifestyle adjustments by those most at risk.

But public health officials and experts warn the virus continues to infect people and can, like the coronavirus, morph into new variants that are more efficient at infecting humans. Any delays or pullback in tackling the virus could make it more difficult to control, according to research from the University of Maryland.

Just because a disease like monkeypox appears controllable does not mean it will stay controllable, said Philip Johnson, the researchs lead author and University of Maryland biology assistant professor, in a statement. Slowly simmering epidemics like monkeypox have a higher probability of evolution during the time frame while case numbers are low.

The city and Nomi Health will offer the shots by appointment only and take people who pre-registered through a state site. Currently about there are 460 city residents on the list out of about 3,700 statewide.

Patients and advocates have criticized the slow rollout of testing and vaccination nationally, which officials believe was due to a combination of low vaccine supply, public health infrastructure burdened by the coronavirus pandemic and underfunding. A concern about stigmatizing the most hard hit in the gay community also may have played a role.

Now there appears to be ample doses available.

Maryland has received 14,539 vials of vaccine from federal officials in recent weeks, which can be divided up to five doses each using a technique called intradermal vaccination where the shot is given between layers of skin in the forearm instead of in the muscle. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the method in August to stretch limited doses.

In September, the Maryland Department of Health expanded eligibility to anyone at high risk of a monkeypox infection and not just those directly exposed. So far, 7,353 people have been vaccinated in Maryland.

To get the word out, the health department continues to engage local communities on human monkeypox with a webinar series this month and continuing partnerships with local health departments and community partners, said Chase Cook, a department spokesman.

Previously, health officials had been alerting medical professionals to be on the lookout for symptoms and refer for testing.

Clusters of monkeypox began showing up in May in European countries that do not normally have significant cases. Soon after cases were detected in the United States and Maryland. They caused a telltale body rash that can last weeks, swollen lymph nodes and achiness that can be severe.

The state has logged 692 cases, with the most, 255, or nearly a third, in Baltimore. About half the cases have been in the city and surrounding metro area. More than 95% have been male, 61% Black and 47% ages 30 to 39.

Sean Arroyo, vice president of operations at Nomi, a nationwide health care provider to underserved communities, said the West Baltimore Street clinic has been busy in the past year offering COVID testing and vaccines.

The lines that were out the door and down the street at times have dropped significantly though there are still widespread cases and the clinic now offers the bivalent omicron COVID vaccine, he said.

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Now Nomi will add monkeypox vaccine to the lineup, and later flu vaccine, under a $1 million contract with the city health department that lasts through December.

He and city officials are unsure what the demand will be, especially as cases wane and people feel less fearful of a monkeypox infection. The clinic can vaccinate up to 125 people a day and will get the van into neighborhoods in coming weeks.

Registered nurse Diona Harrington, operations manager of Nomi Baltimore holds the door for incoming Nomi Health personnel from out of town as Baltimore health officials plan opening a new monkeypox inoculation clinic at Nomi Health's Baltimore Street location, which aims to make the vaccine more easily accessible. (Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun)

Weve seen a national drop-off in demand, but there are pockets of demand so we will be here and bring the van into the communities, Arroyo said. Were working on a plan for the van. Not everyone has transportation to get here.

Health officials say vaccinations will be essential to combating the outbreak.

Waiting until the number of cases is high again would give monkeypox the opportunity to adapt more substantially to humans, the University of Marylands Johnson said.

The research was published last month in the journal The Lancet. It cited Ebola and the omicron variants of the coronavirus as examples of viruses more difficult to control once they evolve from their original form and jump to humans from animals.

We have finite public health resources, meaning that we need more research to develop tools that can identify possible early-stage evolutionary adaptations and help guide control efforts to where theyll be most effective, Johnson said.

Excerpt from:

Baltimore, with the state's most monkeypox cases, is opening new way to get vaccine - Baltimore Sun

MINISTER of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville welcomes the arrival of the monkeypox vaccine yesterday - although The Bahamas has had no serious impact from the outbreak so far. Dr Darville also warned of a drop in overall vaccination rates. Photo: Austin Fernander

By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH officials said that there has been a decrease in the uptake of all vaccine types, amid the arrival of 1,400 monkeypox vaccines at the Lynden Pindling International Airport yesterday.

Shortly after 3pm, health officials, including Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville, gathered on the tarmac at LPIA to receive the doses of the vaccine, which were acquired through PAHOs revolving fund.

The vaccines, which were requested earlier this year, arrived in the capital on British Airways and will be taken to an appropriate storage unit.

Its been a long time coming, Dr Darville said. I had an idea when it was coming but we wanted to make sure and today on British Airways, the vaccine is here.

We would like to thank the Pan American Health Organisation, our partners, to ensure we have the monkeypox vaccine in the country.

The vaccine will be moved from here to the proper storage site and our teams will be responsible to administer to the high risk groups and individuals that may have been exposed, Dr Darville said.

On behalf of the government, wed like to thank PAHO and the entire team at the Ministry of Health who worked assiduously to ensure that these vaccines arrived in the country.

Though Dr Darville did not reveal a date for the official rollout of the vaccines, he said the high risk groups will receive doses very shortly.

The official roll out will begin very shortly. We have a strategy on how its going to be utilised and we would notify the media exactly how we would roll it out. We have our vaccination consultative committee, which also will play an intricate role, along with our team.

When we talk about high risk groups we talk about people who might have been potentially exposed. We also have other groups that we believe may be at high risk. This is not like COVID, where everyone needs to be vaccinated. It is basically those groups that are at high risk.

When asked if there will be another batch of the monkeypox vaccine doses in the future, Dr Darvile said, We are back in negotiations with PAHO and that possibility exists. That final decision will have to be made along with our entire team. But we are definitely looking at the second batch.

Meanwhile, Dr Cherita Moxey, Ministry of Healths acting chief medical officer and coordinator said as with the paediatric doses of the COVID 19 vaccine, which arrived in The Bahamas several weeks ago, the monkeypox vaccines indicate a step in the right direction.

Like the monkeypox vaccine, its (paediatric doses of the Covid 19 vaccine) arrival here in The Bahamas indicates that the Ministry of Health has taken a very proactive step. There was a lot of demand in the public space for these vaccines, she said.

Unfortunately we have not seen the realisation of that demand at our COVID vaccination centres. Right now were seeing a percentage of less than one percent of that particular population vaccinated.

Not only the COVID-19 vaccines, I also want to speak to the fact that weve had a decrease in uptake for all vaccine types that are on our national immunisation schedule. So, we really want to encourage persons to get vaccinated for COVID 19, but (also) for the other vaccine preventable diseases that are out there.

Last month, Dr Marcos Espinal, PAHOs interim assistant director revealed that batches of monkeypox vaccines are on the way for countries as part of their revolving fund.

PAHO director Dr Carissa F Etienne also said that monkeypox was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in July and the region is now home to the highest burden of monkeypox cases worldwide.

In July, paediatric doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, for children aged five to 11 years arrived in The Bahamas.

Dr Darville said the paediatric vaccinations would be voluntary and not mandatory.

View original post here:

Monkeypox vaccine arrives - and rollout coming shortly - Bahamas Tribune

Public health experts are optimistic the new approach will ultimately change the trajectory of the virus.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

The White House is hopeful, too. Fulton County was singled out for praise by administration officials as an example of a major U.S. metropolitan area thats confronting vaccine inequity. Black men who have sex with other men are not receiving monkeypox vaccines at a rate matching the number of cases affecting their population. Anyone can contract monkeypox, but men who have sex with men have been mainly affected in this latest outbreak.

After an initial cluster of cases in the United Kingdom in May, the first diagnoses started cropping up in Georgia in June and quickly ballooned. Just two short months ago, the situation looked grim. With cases exploding nationwide, the federal government on August 4 declared monkeypox a public health emergency.

Dr. Melanie Thompson, a doctor who cares for people living with HIV and researcher based in Atlanta, described it as heartbreaking to see people struggling to get tested and vaccinated. She said some were turned away from emergency rooms.

One of my patients said, Its like the early days of AIDS. Nobody knows whats going on. Nobody wants to take care of you. Nobody knows where to get help. It just broke my heart, Thompson said.

Right then, she and others in metro Atlanta decided they would not let the past repeat itself.

Kendoll Brinkley Brown, 39, was on three waiting lists for the monkeypox vaccine when he got sick.

During the last week of July, Brinkley Brown developed a bad headache and body aches. At first, he didnt think much of it. He had recently been in a car accident and had just undergone a root canal. A day after the dental procedure, he noticed a lesion filled with pus on the front of his hand. It started itching and other lesions quickly followed on his arms and buttocks.

At that particular point, I was already paranoid about the whole monkeypox outbreak. I stay pretty tucked away in a bubble. So I was hoping that it was not that, but something in my gut was telling me that it was, he said.

Monkeypox causes a distinctive rash that goes through several stages from blisters to scabs before healing. The rash can be located in sensitive areas, cause extreme pain and, in some cases, lead to hospitalization. An infection can last from two to four weeks, and those infected are usually unable to work and must avoid contact with others.

After struggling to reach anyone with the Fulton County Health Department by phone, he eventually decided to go to the health department in person on Aug. 1. He said it took several hours for him to be seen and tested. As he suspected, he had monkeypox.

Before long, he was reeling in pain. To ease the agony, he soaked in warm baths with colloidal oatmeal. He took Ibuprofen.

During his visit to the health department, Brinkley Brown said he had asked for treatment, but was told there was none. And, although the health department promised to contact his doctor, he also said that he heard nothing during or after his bout with monkeypox, which left him frustrated.

He wasnt alone.

The immediate response to the outbreak at the federal, state and local levels was hampered by missteps and delays.

The first pop-up vaccination event in Fulton County took place on July 9, but only a paltry 200 doses of the vaccine were available and required an appointment. At the time, Georgia was ranked No. 5 for the most monkeypox cases in the U.S., but was receiving far fewer vaccines than other parts of the country with far fewer cases. State health officials werent even requesting all of the doses allocated to the state.

A DPH spokeswoman said the state wasnt ordering its allocated vaccines all at once because officials planned to stagger the shipments. They needed time to prepare to store and administer the vaccines.

When vaccines became available, Fulton County sent press releases and posted information about vaccination opportunities on social media. When appointment slots were posted online, they were snapped up within minutes.

It didnt take long for Joshua ONeal, sexual health program director for Fulton County Board of Health, to notice a trend. As a gay white man, I will say that the people who are connected to me on Instagram and my social networks, I talk about this, so they were most activated at the time, said ONeal, and there were other communities who just werent aware and thats when we started seeing the racial disparities.

Though they didnt yet have the data, ONeal, HIV doctors and leaders of community-based organizations said early indications were showing the virus was heavily affecting Black men, especially those who are HIV positive. And they werent getting vaccinated at the same rate as white men, much to the chagrin of the states public health officials.

Initially, people thought they could just put notifications online, and people would sign up for them and everything would be fine, said HIV doctor Thompson. You know, first come, first served. And what we saw were the same disparities being repeated again, the same HIV disparities, the COVID disparities. It was the most impacted populations who were being left out.

But what happened this time is they pivoted, she said of public health officials.

ONeal, at the Fulton County Health Department, and others insisted that they change course and work harder to get vaccines in the arms of the people most at risk.

It was: Why is this not happening? ONeal recalled. But also, if we have such a limited amount of these vaccines, we need to be doing the right thing to get it to all the people who are heavily impacted. he said.

By mid-July, with ONeal taking the lead, Fulton County Health Department started collaborating with several community-based organizations that advocate for the LGBTQ community. Among them, Thrive SS Inc., A Vision 4 Hope and Heres to Life. They were prioritized for vaccine access and given a sign-up link to help their clients get appointments.

With monkeypox cases in the state surpassing 400 by the beginning of August, the new collaborative approach started taking shape in Atlanta and Fulton County: Federal, state, and local public health officials were working closely with activists, community groups and local HIV doctors and clinics. They gave presentations, held town halls, started outreach in bars.

In the backs of their minds, they kept thinking about the AIDS epidemic decades before, and how it should have been handled better. People were like, Never again. Lets do what we have to do, said David Folkes, community health outreach manager at Thrive SS Inc., which focuses on the health of Black gay men, especially those living with HIV.

They decided to use Atlanta Black Pride week events in early September as an opportunity to reach a large number of people. Smith, of Heres to Life, developed a QR code with details on how to get a vaccine and put it on postcards with information about Pride events. Taking the cards with him, he started making the rounds to local bars, including the one where Carter was sipping his cocktail and had given up on getting an appointment for vaccination.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

It was one of those things where we were in an emergency. It was a state of emergency, Smith said. We dont want that stigma on the community. We dont need an outbreak with gay men. It was an easy conversation: Have you had your vaccination? Let me get you on a list.

When Smith brought up the monkeypox vaccine, Carter gladly accepted his help. His name was added to a list of 112 that Smith passed along to the Fulton County Health Department. Two days later, Carter received a text confirming his appointment for the first of the two-dose vaccine.

In Georgia, case numbers were nearly doubling every week in mid-July and continued to jump in August. But, according to the most recent tally released Oct. 12 the total number of cases only rose 1.5% from the previous week.

Public health experts say the decline was likely brought about by a combination of factors, including vaccinations, immunity gained from infection in the population at risk, and a change in sexual behavior in the highest risk group. In a survey conducted by the CDC in August, roughly half of men who have sex with men said they had reduced the number of their partners and one-time sexual encounters.

I really think this is a very interesting case study, said Thompson. Number one, what a difference it makes when there is good communication between the community and county, state and federal governments because what we saw was a concentrated effort.

There are still racial disparity issues to address. As the city prepared to host Atlanta Black Pride on Labor Day weekend, Black people accounted for 78% of monkeypox cases in Georgia but had received only 45% of the vaccines. That inequity in vaccines hasnt changed, according to DPH figures.

And public health officials need to pay attention to the lingering psychological toll, said Brinkley Brown. He started an online journal on Facebook documenting what his days of managing the illness were like. Thats grown into an online support group.

Im glad to have made it through it, he said. Im glad that my experience can be a testimony, and it has helped others come through their experiences.

Read the rest here:

Inside the monkeypox crisis: How Georgia worked to curb an outbreak - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

For most people, the term breakthrough infection was first heard shortly after the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021. The speed at which the powers that be normalised this plausible-sounding term is almost impressive, particularly given that the very need therefore evidenced the failure of the Covid-19 vaccines to prevent transmission of the virus the first basic tenet upon which vaccination was boldly promoted. In this article, first published on The Defender, an astute review of observational data derived from statistics reported in the UK clearly shows that, in every age group over age 18, the Covid-19 case rate in the unvaccinated is less than the rate in the fully vaccinated and boosted. In addition, graphs documenting the relative infection rates plotted in each age group over the last six months that this data was reported (October 2021-March 2022), illustrate how the infection rate in the vaccinated/boosted is not only greater than in the unvaccinated in every age group, but actually increasing with the passage of time. Nadya Swart

When so many cases of infection occur in vaccinated people and they occur immediately after the therapy should these really be called breakthrough infections?

By Madhava Setty, M.D.*

James Lyons-Weiler, Ph.D., recently posed an interesting question to his Substack readers about the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine.

Based on some rough estimates, Lyons-Weiler calculated that the risk of monkeypox after vaccination, based on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is about 50 times greater than in the unvaccinated population of similar at-risk people.

So he asked his readers, What (respectfully) do you think is going on?

Lyons-Weiler is (respectfully) pointing out the obvious: If a therapy results in more disease in those who are treated, couldnt the therapy be causing the disease?

Medpage Today also covered the results of the JAMA study in this article: Breakthrough Monkeypox Cases Seen Weeks After Second Jynneos Dose, with the subhead, However, most post-vaccination cases in at-risk group occurred within 14 days of first dose.

When so many cases occur and they occur immediately after the therapy should these really be called breakthrough infections?

The term breakthrough infection is a euphemism for vaccine failure.

The word breakthrough connotes an excusable lapse in protection, an inevitable one-off when a wily and ubiquitous virus manages to penetrate a formidable wall of vaccine-mediated protection.

But is it really a wall of protection if the incidence of disease is greater in those who stand behind the wall compared to those who face the attack head on?

In the case of the JAMA study, vaccination wasnt a wall of protection it was actually a magnet for disease.

We are speaking of vaccine efficacy. If the incidence of disease is greater in the vaccinated, vaccine efficacy is negative meaning, there is a benefit in avoiding the vaccine.

Results of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine trial are difficult to swallow for those who accept that all vaccines are safe and effective as axiom.

The public has slowly come to accept that the protection of vaccines can wane, but when vaccine effectiveness creeps into negative territory, the vaccines can no longer be considered safe, either.

In that sense, negative vaccine effectiveness is also a euphemism. Why dont we call it what it really is harm?

COVID vaccine breakthrough infections

With regard to COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against infection, observational data from the U.K. shows an increasing level of harm from inoculation.

As of March 2022, the risk of getting COVID-19 was 2.5 to 5 times higher in people over age 18 (see Table 14 below).

Unfortunately, U.K. health officials unceremoniously announced these statistics would no longer be reported, stating:

From 1 April 2022, the UK Government will no longer provide free universal COVID-19 testing for the general public in England, as set out in the plan for living with COVID-19.

Such changes in testing policies affect the ability to robustly monitor COVID-19 cases by vaccination status, therefore, from the week 14 report onwards this section of the report will no longer be published.

It is unclear how the elimination of free COVID-19 testing will affect the U.K.s ability to robustly monitor COVID-19 cases by vaccination status.

If anything, it will decrease the amount of indiscriminate testing of asymptomatic individuals a practice that will (and has) exaggerated the incidence of the disease in everyone tested. One could argue that this change in policy will actually increase the ability to robustly monitor COVID-19 cases.

Nevertheless, here are the last numbers reported by the U.K.:

The first two columns compare rates of infection between fully vaccinated and boosted individuals with the unvaccinated. In every age group over 18, the COVID-19 infection rate is significantly higher.

The authors of this report caution the reader to not jump to any conclusions. They explain:

The case rates in the vaccinated and unvaccinated populations are unadjusted crude rates that do not take into account underlying statistical biases in the data and there are likely to be systematic differences between these 2 population groups. For example:

The first three points are valid concerns when examining two groups of unmatched populations in any observational study. These factors may skew vaccine effectiveness in either direction.

Without any randomised, placebo-controlled, matched cohorts we are left only with large observational data sets like this one from which to draw conclusions. Why wouldnt they continue to report these numbers if thats all we can do?

The fourth point is puzzling. The authors suggest that the unvaccinated have some natural immunity because they are more likely to have caught COVID-19 prior to this period of comparison.

Though the authors minimise the protective benefit of natural immunity in their wording, their argument necessitates that natural immunity is superior to vaccination. How else can they use their argument to explain the significantly lower incidence of disease in the unvaccinated?

At the very least, this is a subtle nod to the superiority of natural immunity. However, the authors assumption that the unvaccinated were more likely to have caught COVID-19 in the weeks or months prior to the period covered in the report flies in the face of their own data.

Were the unvaccinated more likely to have caught COVID-19 prior to this reporting period? No.

Heres what the previous report showed:

Once again, in every age group over age 18, the case rate in the unvaccinated is less than the rate in the fully vaccinated and boosted. If the unvaccinated are succumbing to COVID-19 less frequently in February, how can they be better protected in March?

According to the authors hypothesis, a higher infection rate among the vaccinated in February should have led to a lower infection rate in March. Not only did this not happen, the difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated infection rates were even larger than they were before.

Not only are the vaccinated obtaining a smaller level of future protection from infection compared to the unvaccinated, they are becoming more vulnerable as time passes.

Trend of growing harm

In fact, if we look further back in time we can see that the protective benefit of being unvaccinated is growing month over month. To put it less euphemistically, as time goes on it is becoming clearer that the vaccinated in the U.K. are being harmed.

To better illustrate the growing harm, below are the relative infection rates plotted in each age group over the last six months that this data was reported (October 2021-March 2022).

The infection rate in the unvaccinated is in green, and the infection rate in the boosted/vaxxed is in blue.

The ratio of the infection rates is plotted separately in black. A ratio greater than 1 means the infection rate in the boosted/vaxxed is bigger than in the unvaxxed.

Notice that the infection rate in the vaxxed/boosted is not only greater than in the unvaccinated in every age group, but it is increasing with the passage of time. This means that with respect to SARS-CoV-2 infection, the vaccinated/boosted population is doing progressively worse.

In every age category, the COVID-19 infection rate in the boosted is proportionately larger and larger with subsequent months. By March 2022, boosted individuals between the ages of 30 to 79 have approximately a 4 times greater chance of getting COVID-19 than their unvaccinated counterparts.

COVID-19 infection should protect against subsequent infections. However, what we see in the U.K. is that despite having higher infection rates, the vaccinated continue to become infected at even higher rates in subsequent months.

Lets be clear. The incidence of the disease the vaccine was designed to protect against is several times higherand growingin those who got the vaccine. Is the virus breaking through? Or is it being encouraged to enter?

Finally, they offer this mystifying caveat in footnote 1 of Table 14:

Comparing case rates among vaccinated and unvaccinated populations should not be used to estimate vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 infection.

Really? How exactly should vaccine effectiveness be estimated? Is there a better way?

Lets refer to page 4 of the same report, where they explain how it should be done correctly:

Vaccine effectiveness is estimated by comparing rates of disease in vaccinated individuals to rates in unvaccinated individuals.

No harm in the U.S.?

Despite the disturbing trends in the U.K., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data continue to demonstrate a benefit with regard to infection rates in the vaccinated.

The most recent data from the U.S. (August 2022) indicates that unvaccinated individuals have a 2.4 times greater risk of contracting COVID-19 than those who are jabbed.

However, CDC data from March 2022 (the period covered in the last U.K. report), show that unvaccinated people under the age of 50 had a lower incidence of disease than those who were fully vaccinated and boosted.

When will the CDC update its datasets? Will the CDC continue to report vaccine effectiveness against infection if it goes negative? Or will it follow the U.K.s lead and leave us to wonder?

What (respectfully) do you think is going on?

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Childrens Health Defense.

[10/18/22] Childrens Health Defense, Inc. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of Childrens Health Defense, Inc. Want to learn more from Childrens Health Defense? Sign up for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Childrens Health Defense. Your donation will help to support us in our efforts.

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A growing trend of Covid-19 vaccination harm: Is the virus breaking through? Or is it being encouraged to enter? - BizNews

So, I decided to get the Monkeypox (MPXV) vaccine.

Why, you ask?

I wish I could say it was mainly because I wanted to do my part and look out for the community. Yes, that was part of it, but the main reason I chose to get jabbed was the symptoms.

MPXV symptoms can include a rash, painful skin lesions or sores on the face, mouth, genitals, and anus. This is usually accompanied by fever, headache, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes.

Painful lesions on my genitals and anus?

Listen, if theres a vaccine that protects me from painful lesions and sores below the waist, or anywhere else on my body, jab my brains out.

According to ACON, MPXV is transmitted through close physical contact as well as contact with the clothing of with someone who has symptoms.

MPXV can also be transmitted if you breathe in the respiratory droplets of an infected person.

Australia has received a supply of the third-generation JYNNEOS vaccine. In order to be fully vaccinated, you must get two doses of the vaccine, spaced at least 28 days apart.

Currently, the vaccine is being administered intradermally. This means it is given via a shallow injection into the forearm.

According to Australias Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, The advantage of the intradermal route is that you can provide vaccination to four or five people with the same dose that was used previously via the subcutaneous route to get to one person. In other words, this method allows clinics to squeeze four to five doses from a single standard dose, which allows a significantly larger number of people to get protected.

Between May 20 and October 13, 2022, there were 140 MPXV cases in Australia, including 69 in Victoria, 54 in New South Wales, 7 in Western Australia, 5 in Queensland, 3 in the Australian Capital Territory, and 2 in South Australia.

Sure, lining up with other gay and bisexual men to get a vaccine that temporarily leaves a small raised bump at the injection site feels a bit like a scarlet letter. But wear that scarlet letter with pride.

If anything, think of all the grateful genitals.

Read more:

WHY I GOT THE MONKEYPOX VACCINE - Star Observer

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More and more people are getting vaccinated against monkeypox and becoming acquainted with the common side effect: a hard lump.

"I've had a lot of patients show me their lumps," Elsbet Servay, clinical director of immunizations at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City, told Insider. "It's a normal, expected reaction."

This swelling is one of the 13 most common side effects healthcare workers typically see after administering Jynneos (the two-dose smallpox vaccine that also protects against monkeypox).

It's nothing to worry about, Servay said: Lumps and aches are "a part of your immune system doing its job."

If you are part of the select at-risk group advised to get vaccinated against monkeypox, here's what you need to know.

The US is dishing outmonkeypox shots at a faster clip these days thanks to both increased vaccine production, and a new skin-deep dose-saving technique. Federal officialssaid Tuesdaythat there should be "enough" vaccine supply now to inoculate everyone "in the at-risk community."

Instead of injecting a full dose into the fatty area at the back of a person's arm (a "subcutaneous injection"), some healthcare workers are following CDC advice to inject a fifth of the dose just under the surface of the skin (an "intradermal injection") at a very tight 5 to 15-degree angle.

"The technique is a bit of a dying art," Servaytold Insider. "It's just a little trickier to administer, but we do expect it to offer protection."

Because the intradermal injection is delivered so shallowly, you can actually see the vaccine liquid appear immediately inside the body, just under the surface of the skin:

If the intradermal injection does not immediately result in this bubble of liquid under the skin (often referred to as a "bleb" or "wheal"), the injection has failed, and has to be re-done.

Callen-Lorde has trained eight nurses in intradermal vaccine technique for monkeypox, done with special needles that can measure "a very small amount of liquid" with "very fine syringes," Servay said.

But, aside from this fine-tuned procedure, the effects of the monkeypox vaccine, whether given intradermally or subcutaneously, should be quite similar.

"The most common vaccine side effects are pain, redness, swelling, hardness, itching at the injection site," Servay said. These side effects may be slightly more pronounced with intradermal injections than they were with subcutaneous shots, in large part because "under the skin there's a more evolved, richer immune system" than in arm fat.

"When you think of all the cuts and scrapes that people get in day to day life, it makes sense," Servay added.

According to a 2015 study of more than 350 vaccine recipients, side effects are more common among people who get Jynneos intradermally than those who receive the bigger, deeper subcutaneous shots. But, there is one side effect that is far more common among people who get the vaccine injected into their arm fat.

The tenderness and pain at the injection site after a subcutaneous shot into the back of the arm can be worse than the pain after an intradermal forearm injection, which tends to just be more itchy and red.

Dr. Graham Walker, an ER physician in San Francisco told Insider that his injection site was "definitely tender" for a while after his first subcutaneous shot a few weeks ago.

"One time I bumped the back of my arm on something and it hurt a LOT for a few seconds, like a stubbed toe," he said.

The most common shared complaint among people who've gotten the Jynneos vaccine whether their injection was administered intradermally or subcutaneously has been the presence of a "bump," "knot," or hard "lump" lingering for days or weeks afterwards. (That watery bleb, on the other hand, starts to dissipate almost immediately, and shouldn't be noticeable by the next day.)

One microbiology student described his first (subcutaneous) shot lump on Twitter as the size of a "nickel" but said his second (intradermal) injection resulted in a hump as big as an "egg."

Second dose side effects can often be more pronounced than first doses, because the immune system has already been primed to react. (Be aware that some health departments, including New York City's, are not scheduling second doses just yet.)

Servay said if there's one word of caution she would offer to people getting monkeypox vaccines, it's that the vaccine "doesn't work right away" and people "really don't have any" protection in the first days after their shot is administered.

"I have seen cases of monkeypox in people who probably acquired it slightly before or around the time they got their first dose," she said.

An immune response to monkeypox starts ramping up at about two weeks after a first shot, but "two weeks after that second dose is when you get maximum protection," Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the US's deputy monkeypox response coordinator, said during the briefing Tuesday.

"That shot is not for today," he said, stressing there are "lots of other strategies" to reduce the spread of the virus in the meantime.

However, if you're one of the more than 18,900 people nationwide who've recently had monkeypox, there's no reason to rush out and get shots. Like smallpox, immunity from a prior monkeypox infection should last for a while, experts say.

Link:

Monkeypox Vaccine Side Effects: Hard Lump, Bleb, Appetite Changes

Dr. Fauci explains why people are not protected from monkeypox

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, talked to USA TODAY about protection against monkeypox.

Ariana Triggs and Becky Kellogg, USA TODAY

As the monkeypox outbreak continues to spreadworldwide, cases across theU.S.are climbing. And on Monday, Los Angeles County reported what is believed to be the first recorded U.S. death linked to the virus.

Confirmed cases of monkeypox have reached more than 59,600worldwide, according toWednesday numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak, first spotted in Europe in late April, has reached 103countries the vast majority in nations that hadn't previouslyhad significant caseloads of the rare, viral infection.

In addition to the California death, the CDC has confirmed that 18 people outside the U.S. have died of the disease in 2022. Still,the world's largest monkeypox outbreak belongs to the U.S.

The U.S. had reported 22,774 confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases as of Wednesday, per the CDC. Highly-populated states are leading the numbers with 4,300confirmed cases in California, followed by 3,694confirmed cases in New York.

What is monkeypox?A look at symptoms, treatment and addressing the myths

Combatting misinformation and stigma: Monkeypox is spreading through sex, but it's not an STI. Why calling it one is a problem.

On Monday, Los Angles County health officials announced that a resident had died from monkeypox, with the cause of death confirmed by the autopsy.The patient was severely immunocompromised and had been hospitalized, officials said.

It's possible that this marks the first recorded U.S. death from monkeypox, but health officials are also investigating whether monkeypox contributed to the August death of a Texas adult. That patient was also severely immunocompromised, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

California: First known monkeypox death in US confirmed by LA County health officials

Texas: Officials investigating whether monkeypox played role in death of immunocompromised adult

Many have criticized the Biden administration for not acting more quickly at the start of the outbreak, including aslow launch on testing and vaccine rollout to meet demand, but the White House said last week that it was optimistic about rising vaccinations.

In order to stretch the nation's limited supply, U.S. health officials authorized a plan onAug. 9to give people one-fifth of the usual doseof the Jynneos vaccine, citing research that suggests the reduced amount is about as effective. This came days after the Biden administration announceda nationwide public health emergency.

As of Sept. 8,more than 460,000 doses have been given,Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the deputy coordinator of the White House national monkeypox response, said last week.

The administration has also promised to ramp up vaccination offerings at large LGBTQ events, like Pride festivals, around the country in the coming weeks.

Monkeypox is not a gay disease.But LGBTQ leaders say they need more help for gay men and everyone else

Repeating history: After repeating early COVID mistakes, US now has the worlds biggest monkeypox outbreak

Monkeypox does not usually cause serious illness however,it can result in hospitalization or death. The virus is spread through close, physical contact. The current outbreak is primarily affecting men who have sex with men (93%of U.S. cases), but health officials stressthat the viruscan infect anyone.

However, experts have also stressed concerns of worsening racial disparities in the reported cases.Latinoand Black peoplehave been disproportionately infected.

Racial disparities: Black, Hispanic people disproportionately suffer monkeypox but fewer are getting the vaccine, early data shows

Here's where confirmed cases stand across U.S. states and territories, according to CDC numbers from Wednesday, September 13:

Alabama: 90

Alaska: 3

Arizona: 399

Arkansas: 52

California: 4,300

Colorado: 235

Connecticut: 114

Delaware: 35

District of Columbia: 473

Florida: 2,301

Georgia: 1,614

Hawaii: 25

Idaho: 12

Illinois: 1,187

Indiana: 195

Iowa: 22

Kansas: 7

Kentucky: 39

Louisiana: 219

Maine: 7

Maryland: 598

Massachusetts: 356

Michigan: 237

Minnesota: 163

Mississippi: 55

Missouri: 70

Montana: 5

Nebraska: 28

Nevada: 204

New Hampshire: 27

New Jersey: 633

New Mexico: 33

New York: 3,694

North Carolina: 435

North Dakota: 5

Ohio: 236

Oklahoma: 31

Oregon: 183

Pennsylvania: 678

Puerto Rico: 155

Rhode Island: 61

South Carolina: 133

South Dakota: 2

Tennessee: 239

Texas: 2,017

Utah: 128

Vermont: 3

Virginia: 422

Washington: 535

West Virginia: 10

Wisconsin: 64

Wyoming: 2

What's everyone talking about?Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day

Contributing: Celina Tebor, Cady Stanton, Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY. The Associated Press.

More:

Monkeypox state cases: New York, California numbers amid US emergency

After the first case of monkeypox was reported in the U.S. in May, case numbers quickly climbedand calls for vaccinations soon followed.

Vaccines were introduced in the summer and, so far, over 900,000 have been administered across the country. Yet their rollout hasnt been quite so straightforward.

Limited dosage supplies meant that only certain individuals were deemed eligible for the jab which created a scramble for vaccination appointments. In light of this, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized that a single dosage could be split into five to reach more peopleprompting concerns that protection levels may be compromised.

Meanwhile, some recipients are developing a red, painful mark at the injection site.

Some outlets including The Washington Post reported this prospect is deterring recipientsprimarily men who have sex with menfrom getting either their initial or follow-up dose, partly for fear of stigmatization.

Lets take a closer look at some issues that have been arising and what implications they have for those receiving the vaccination.

Before delving into concerns around smaller dosage amounts, its important to understand how most vaccines are delivered regardless of what disease they provide protection against. There are three types of injectable vaccines: intradermal, subcutaneous, and intramuscular.

Most vaccinations currently available, like SARS-CoV-2 or influenza vaccines, are intramuscular injections, Dr Michael Chang, a specialist in infectious diseases at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital, explained to Healthline.

Common intramuscular injection sites include the upper arm or leg. Furthermore, he noted, for most authorized or fully approved vaccines, injecting deeper into the muscle maximizes the immune response against the vaccine, optimizing protection. [It also] minimizes the frequency of local injection site reactions.

In subcutaneous injections, the needle is inserted into a layer deeper than the skin, usually the fatty layer between the skin and the muscle, said Chang. The JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine was initially approved for administration in this way.

However, the approach isnt used as much for vaccines, as the immune response in the skin may not be as vigorous, and you have more local site injection reactions, Chang revealed.

This leads us to intradermal injection, whereby the vaccination is delivered to the top layer of the skin. This is now the method being used for monkeypox vaccines. So why the switch?

Often, intradermal vaccines require a lower dose to receive efficacy, Dr.Sujal Mandavia, chief medical officer at Carbon Health, told Healthline.

This is because the immune system of the fine layers of our skin is well primed to receive foreign things, like vaccines, and tends to respond quite vigorously.

With vaccine shortages a challenge, the intradermal approach enables doses to be split into fifths. The result? We can stretch the current available supply and vaccinate more at-risk individuals, noted David M. Souleles, MPH, director of MPH Program and Practice at the University of California, Irvine.

However, Chang explained, it is recommended that those aged under 18 still receive the vaccination subcutaneously rather than intradermally.

If you only receive 20% of a typical monkeypox vaccine dose, you might think you wouldnt be protected against the disease.

However, this isnt the case according to the research.

The FDA made the decision to use a lower amount of vaccination and administer it intradermally based on this clinical study involving 524 patients, said Mandavia. [The study] demonstrated that, when injected [intradermally] into the skin, one-fifth of the JYNNEOS vaccine produces a similar immune response to a full dose of subcutaneous administration.

While the current vaccination certainly offers protection, more research is needed into the defense levels it affords over an extended period. The effect on long-term immunity and protection against monkeypox from the one-fifth intradermal dose remains unclear at this time, Chang added.

Fortunately, receiving one-fifth of a vaccination dose doesnt mean you need to have four follow-up injections to obtain optimum benefits.

With intradermal administration of the monkeypox vaccine, two doses of the vaccine given 28 days apart is considered fully vaccinated and provides protection, shared Souleles.

If youre under the age of 18 and receive your vaccination subcutaneously, your second dose should also come 28 days after the first.

Peak immunity is expected 14 days after the second dose of the JYNNEOS vaccine, added Chang. Unfortunately, second dose coverage is low per Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data.

A key reason individuals are skipping their second dose? The appearance of a sore, red mark at the site of their first injection. Yet, this side effect isnt limited to the monkeypox vaccine.

This is a common issue with any intradermal injection, and not only the JYNNEOS vaccine, Chang shared.

The reason this appears, Mandavia explained, is because the body recognizes the viral load as foreign and sends immune cells to react against it.

Think about the COVID-19 vaccine or flu vaccine, added Souleles. That can often result in a sore arm at the injection site for days after the injection.

While potentially unsightly and uncomfortable, the red welt that commonly develops with the monkeypox vaccine is benign and is not harmful, assured Mandavia.

For those concerned about developing another red mark in a visible area following the second dose, you have options. Chang explained it is possible to request the injection be given in a less visible intradermal site, such as the shoulder (over the deltoid) or the upper back over the shoulder blades (scapula).

Good news: Chang explained that the mark usually subsides within 72 hours to 1 week although, in rare instances, they can remain for three to four weeks.

If, at any point following injection, you develop worsening tenderness or swelling at the injection site, it is important to consult with a healthcare provider, urged Chang.

In the meantime, if you develop a red mark at the injection point, following a couple of simple steps may help reduce it.

Since this is typically related to skin irritation, gentle massage and applying a cold pack to the site can help relieve the symptoms faster, Chang revealed.

Any damage to the skin (including via vaccination) can potentially leave a mark or scar in the long term. But some individuals are believed to be at greater risk.

For instance, its thought that those with keloidsor a history of themare more likely to develop scarring following intradermal vaccination.

Keloids are excess growths of scar tissue that grow following trauma to the skin. They are most often seen in those with darker skin, who are pregnant, or under the age of 30.

As such, the CDC recommends that individuals with keloids, either currently or previously, be given the monkeypox vaccination subcutaneously.

Additionally, the New York City Department of Health mentioned in their monkeypox vaccination leaflet, that monkeypox infection has high potential for scarring and permanent skin changes.

Some people eligible for the monkeypox vaccine have brought up concerns about getting their second dose.

However, to obtain optimal protection against monkeypox, receiving the full vaccination is essential. This means two injections, 28 days apart.

Having a sore mark might be uncomfortable for a short time, stated Mandavia. However, it is a mild side effect of the vaccine that could save you from more serious illness with symptoms like a painful rash, fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion.

If you have any concerns about the vaccine, side effects, or potential scarring, always speak with your healthcare or vaccination provider.

View original post here:

What is Going on With the Monkeypox Vaccination Campaign Right Now - Healthline

News Release

October 11, 2022

Toronto Public Health (TPH) has added approximately 25,000 appointments for monkeypox immunization and doubled the number of clinics offering the vaccine from today until Friday, October 31, following the expansion of second-dose eligibility by the provincial government.

Eligible individuals who received a first dose of the Imvamune vaccine may now receive a second dose 28 days after their first dose. More information is available on the Ministry of Healths website.

TPH continues to follow federal and provincial guidance on administering of Imvamune vaccines to protect at-risk populations against the monkeypox virus. Appointments are available for clients who meet the following criteria:

a) Two-spirit, non-binary, transgender, cisgender, intersex, or gender-queer individuals who self-identify or have partners who self-identify as belonging to the gay, bisexual, pansexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) community and at least one of the following: Had a confirmed sexually transmitted infection (STI) within the last year.

b) Individuals who self-identify as engaging in sex work or are planning to, regardless of self-identified sex or gender.

c) Household and/or sexual contacts of people who are eligible for Pre-Exposure Vaccination listed in parts (a) or (b) above and who are moderately or severely immunocompromised (have a weak immune system) or are pregnant. These individuals may be at risk for severe illness from a monkeypox infection and may be considered for Pre-Exposure Vaccination, and should contact a healthcare provider or Toronto Public Health for more information.

d) Research laboratory employees working directly with replicating orthopoxviruses. This completed form must be provided.

Appointments are required for eligible individuals to get vaccinated and can be booked online using the TPH Appointment Booking System. Health card and identification are not required to receive a monkeypox vaccine or to book an appointment at a City-run immunization clinic.

Starting today, six City of Toronto-run immunization clinics are administering the Imvamune vaccine:

Monkeypox spreads from person to person through contact with infected lesions, skin blisters, body fluids or respiratory secretions. It can also be transmitted by contact with materials contaminated with the virus (e.g. clothing, bedding) and through bites or scratches from infected animals.

Monkeypox symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion and swollen lymph nodes, followed by a rash or blisters on the skin. Most people recover from monkeypox on their own without treatment. Vaccination is being offered to protect against the monkeypox virus and can help reduce serious symptoms. Like most vaccines, the Imvamune vaccine can take up to two weeks for those vaccinated to be fully protected.

TPH asks residents with monkeypox symptoms to self-isolate immediately and contact a healthcare provider. People who have been in contact with a person who has monkeypox should self-monitor for symptoms for 21 days. If symptoms develop, they should self-isolate, seek care and get tested. Healthcare providers are reminded that suspected or confirmed cases of monkeypox must be reported to TPH. As with many other diseases spread through close contact, people can lower their risk by reducing the number of close contacts, cleaning their hands frequently and wearing a mask when possible. Common household disinfectants can kill the monkeypox virus on surfaces.

Public Health Ontario updates monkeypox data for Ontario twice monthly. As of October 4, there was 496 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox reported in Toronto, with eight probable cases currently under investigation. More information is available on the Public Health Ontario website.

TPH continues to follow up with anyone thought to be exposed to monkeypox. TPH also continues to work closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Health Ontario, and the Ontario Ministry of Health. TPH has communicated with local physicians to provide information on symptoms, laboratory testing and diagnosis, infection control precautions, treatment and reporting requirements for monkeypox.

More information is available on the Citys monkeypox webpage.

Residents can also find information about monkeypox on the Public Health Agency of Canadas website or through TPHs Health Connections onlineor by calling 416 338-7600.

Additional information is available on the Gay Mens Sexual Health Alliance website.

Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canadas leading economic engine and one of the worlds most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the Citys website or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

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Toronto Public Health adds immunization appointments and locations as eligibility for second dose monkeypox vaccine expands - Toronto