WASHINGTON — DC Mayor Bowser and DC Health announced on Monday that a limited number of vaccinations for the monkeypox virus would be available for eligible residents and the appointments filled up within around thirty minutes.
Vaccinations are free and appointments on Monday were available starting at 1 p.m., however, appointments were booked quickly after they were made available. Vaccinations will be further available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. at 7530 Georgia Avenue in Northwest, D.C.
If you want to book your appointment, stay on the lookout for when they become available. On DC Health's website, they advise people to keep tabs on their platforms on Wednesday, June 29 for updates on future availability.
Officials say that 300 appointments will be available on Tuesday and Thursday but they also add that the vaccination site will reopen on Wednesdays and Sundays if they receive additional doses of the vaccine from the federal government.
Officials say that gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with other men, have multiple sexual partners and anyone who had any anonymous sexual partners in the last 14 days is eligible to get the vaccine. Additionally, transgender women and nonbinary people assigned as male at birth who have sex with men also qualify. Sex workers and people who work at places where sexual activity takes place, such as bathhouses, saunas and sex clubs are also eligible for the monkeypox vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that monkeypox is a rare disease and comes from the monkeypox virus. Symptoms from the infection can include fever, body aches, chills, exhaustion, swelling of the lymph nodes and a rash that can start on the face and later spreads to the rest of the body.
Additionally, symptoms of a rash can look like pimples or blisters on the face, inside the mouth, and on hands, feet, genitals or anus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC adds that some people can get a rash first that is later accompanied by other symptoms or some people just develop the rash.