WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 205 total cases of monkeypox in Washington, D.C. since the start of the outbreak.
It took 40 days for D.C. to go from one case to 100 confirmed cases. It took just 12 days to go from 100 to 200 cases. Cases in D.C. have tripled in the last two weeks.
There have been 101 confirmed monkeypox cases in Maryland, according to the CDC. Cases in Maryland have doubled in the last week.
In Virginia, the Department of Health reported 75 total monkeypox cases Wednesday.
The virus usually causes fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. Usually one to three days after the fever patients develop a rash that progresses into blisters that will eventually scab.
This week DC Health announced a shift in strategy in the agency’s effort to get the most at-risk population vaccinated against monkeypox. DC Health will now prioritize vaccine appointments for people receiving their first dose, and distribute second doses when the district receives more supply from the federal government.
The District of Columbia has received 13,938 doses JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine doses from the the federal government according to a July 22nd count from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The single-dose strategy is also being practiced in the United Kingdom, Canada, and New York City, where 1,148 people have tested positive for orthopoxvirus/monkeypox.
D.C. has set up a pre-registration system for people to receive a vaccine when they are eligible. The pre-registration system can be found at preventmonkeypox.dc.gov.
To be eligible for a JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine in D.C., a person must meet the following requirements:
- D.C. residents 18 years of age or older
AND
- Gay, bisexual, and other men 18 and older who have sex with men and have had multiple or anonymous sexual partners in the last 14 days); OR
- Transgender women and nonbinary persons assigned male at birth who have sex with men; OR
- Sex workers (of any sex); OR
- Staff (of any sex) at establishments where sexual activity occurs (e.g., bathhouses, saunas, sex clubs).
Virginia and Maryland have not rolled out large-scale vaccination efforts, due to low supply of vaccine. Currently, known close contacts of people who have tested positive for monkeypox virus have been prioritized to receive the vaccine in those states.
DC Health and the Washington Blade held a public forum on monkeypox Monday night, you can watch that below: