Smallpox vaccine demonstration for monkeys marked by incident in New York

Paul Chaplin, chief executive officer of Bavarian Nordic, which makes the vaccine, said on Thursday that research shows that one dose provides “strong protection.” However, Dr. Bassett said that full protection from the vaccine would only come two weeks after the second dose.

New York health officials say people who fall into one of several categories are eligible for the vaccine:

• People newly exposed to monkeypox within the past 14 days.

• People at high risk of exposure to monkeypox, including members of the gay, bisexual, transgender and other male communities who have sex with men and have intimate or skin contact skin-to-skin contact with others in the past 14 days in areas where monkeypox is spreading.

• Individuals in skin-to-skin contact with someone on social media are experiencing smallpox activity in monkeys, including men who have sex with men and those who meet partners through online website, digital app, or social event, such as a bar or party.

Partly because of the variety, demand for vaccines is extremely high. All 2,500 appointments took place within minutes on Wednesday, health officials said.

Huge frustration over access to the vaccine spilled over on Wednesday, as people spent hours wondering if they’d missed the rollout or if there were more doses to come. .

Eugene Resnick, who works as a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, said he spent nine hours refreshing the city’s website before being able to close an appointment when the second set was released. just before 7pm.

“I am frustrated, angry, frustrated with the Department of Health,” he said. “I am an insider working in the government. I can’t imagine it being completely accessible to the average person who isn’t on Twitter. “

Joseph Osmundson, a microbiologist and gay activist who helps increase access to vaccines, says the city did the right thing by opening a clinic in Harlem, in addition to one in Chelsea, to deliver the vaccine, but it must be an even more urgent effort to get more vaccines to the city soon.

“At every level, there is frustration in the community,” Mr. Osmundson said. He said people he knows are trying to be careful but are increasingly angry at what they feel is a lack of urgency to protect the gay community in particular: “We feel like we’ve been left out. were left behind and then blamed for the contagion.”