(CNN) New York City’s monkeypox case numbers don’t paint the full picture of the severity of the outbreak, and demand for vaccines in the city outstrips supply, the New York City health commissioner said Tuesday. city, Dr. Ashwin Vasan.
Asked on CNN if he thought the current numbers reflected the whole picture, Vasan replied, “I think we can definitely say no. And that’s because we’re only now seeing clinical trials starting to ramp up.”
Vasan said officials were encouraged that there are now five commercial labs partnering with the federal government to significantly expand capacity to ensure doctors can order tests and get results quickly.
“I think we will see an increase in cases across the country in the next few weeks as clinical testing ramps up,” he said.
Vasan described the monkeypox vaccine rollout as “challenging,” saying some of the problems were in the city in terms of technical glitches, “but the real root issue here has been access to vaccine supply.” And that is a national problem.”
While the government is working to get more doses of monkeypox vaccine, he said, New York City has nearly 30% of the country’s cases and has not received a supply equivalent to the impact as the epicenter of the outbreak.
“We need to start looking at a lot more vaccines, and the rest of these things will smooth out as people get access to the preventive therapies they want,” Vasan said.
New York is vaccinating people who are at risk of contracting or transmitting monkeypox or who are at risk of a serious outcome if they contract the virus, he explained.
“We’re not vaccinating known cases; we’re vaccinating people who are exposed, so we see the demand for that mostly really outstripping our supply,” Vasan said, adding that 9,200 vaccination appointments were fully booked seven minutes after which went online on Friday.
“We really need a lot more vaccines. I know our partners are working hard in Washington and elsewhere, but we need them ASAP.”
The Jynneos monkeypox vaccine prescribing information recommends two doses given four weeks apart. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that both doses are necessary for complete protection. But New York officials have decided to focus on giving more people a chance rather than giving a smaller group a full course, Vasan said.
The best thing for the city is “to get shot at the guns as quickly as possible,” Vasan said. That’s not to say officials don’t agree that two shots is the ideal, “but we are in an environment of rising cases, extreme demand and extremely limited supply, and in that environment, it’s up to us to get shot in the arms as soon as possible. as possible because we believe that one shot confers significant protection, if not as much as two shots.
Vasan also spoke about his department’s public health messaging on monkeypox, saying it is a “really challenging clinical and epidemiological issue” that is being debated in the health department as well as nationally and internationally. There should be some humility in the fact that although monkeypox has been around for decades, this outbreak is affecting a new population and behaving in new ways, he said.
“However, I will say very clearly that gay men, men who have sex with men, and the LGBTQ community in general, have had their sexual practices and behaviors dissected, prescribed, and permitted primarily by straight people and lawmakers who are straight for decades. And what we’ve found is, over the years, especially coming out of the HIV movement, really harmful, stigmatizing and discriminatory,” Vasan said.
“Also, I will say that abstinence as a message really doesn’t work. We know that. It’s not a good public health tool because it’s really about giving people the information to make safe decisions, but understanding that we need to meet them where they are. with those options and give them the information to tell them how monkeypox is transmitted.
