Who can get a vaccine for monkeypox? Answers from NC health officials.
North Carolinians are not currently able to receive a pre-exposure vaccine for monkeypox virus infection. Only those who have been exposed to monkeypox and determined high-risk by a healthcare professional are able to get a vaccine against smallpox — which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says can protect against monkeypox — in North Carolina.
New York City began offering a smallpox vaccine at one clinic last week to individuals exposed to monkeypox. As of June 28, 55 people in New York City tested positive for orthopoxvirus, which is presumed to be monkeypox.
The first case of monkeypox virus infection was found in a North Carolina resident June 23, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported. The second was reported in Mecklenburg County on Monday.
While vaccinations for monkeypox are available in North Carolina through public health channels, you can only receive the vaccine if you have been exposed to monkeypox and told by a local healthcare provider that you should get it, NC DHHS said through spokesperson Summer Tonizzo.
You cannot currently receive this vaccine in North Carolina as a preventative measure, but only to treat exposure in a high-risk situation.
“At this time, there is no specific treatment for monkeypox, although antivirals developed for treatment of smallpox may prove beneficial,” Tonizzo said. “We are aware that vaccines are being used more broadly in some jurisdictions that are seeing active outbreaks and/or chains of transmission.”
The vaccine is only available through NC DHHS and the CDC, Dr. David Wohl (infectious disease expert with UNC Health) told The N&O: “This vaccine is available only from the state and is not something routinely stocked by hospitals.”
Any program here similar to New York City’s would have to be coordinated by NC DHHS, as only they can access the vaccine, he said.
“Because the vaccine is currently in short supply, it’s being prioritized for those who have already had known post-exposures, such as health care workers, or those who’ve had a household or sexual contact with an infected person,” Dr. Cameron Wolfe (infectious disease expert with Duke Health) told The N&O.
The New York City clinic included gay, bisexual and other men (18 and older) who have sex with men and have had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the last two weeks, according to a tweet by NYC Healthy.
“While anyone can get monkeypox, current cases are primarily spreading among social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men,” NYC Health tweeted.
This story was originally published June 29, 2022 at 10:09 AM.
