Health officials want ‘at-risk’ populations to get monkeypox jab

EVERETT — Snohomish County public health officials are urging “high-risk” residents to consider getting immunized against monkeypox.

Neighboring King County declared the the local monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency on Aug. 19.

“It certainly triggered an alarm,” Snohomish Health Officer Dr. James Lewis said. “Just because King County is where most of the cases are, (it) doesn’t mean we can’t have more cases. … What we’ve been really working on now is trying to get vaccine out into the community for our high risk community members.”

The Snohomish Health District launched a website last month where people can determine their eligibility and find vaccination locations near them, Dr. Lewis said. After completing a short questionnaire, a health care provider will reach out to schedule an appointment.

Providers in several Everett locations, and in Smokey Point, are now offering vaccination appointments, Dr. Lewis said. The Snohomish Health District is working to confirm additional locations. People must complete the online form and schedule an appointment.

Vaccination is currently available for men or transgender people who have sex with men, if they meet at least one other qualifying criteria that puts them at high risk of contracting the disease.

In May, the United States reported its first monkeypox case amid a worldwide outbreak. Since then, the country has recorded nearly 20,000 cases. Over 470 have come from Washington.

The monkeypox vaccine is not yet recommended for the general public.

In June, the Biden administration announced the first phase of the national monkeypox vaccine strategy: slow the spread of the disease.

Since then, the disease has primarily spread among men who have sex with men. Most of the confirmed cases in recent weeks have been in Black and Hispanic people, but they have received fewer vaccine doses, the New York Times reported last week.

Last week, the Biden administration announced the “equity intervention pilot,” a plan to send extra doses of the vaccine to states for use at events or sites that can reach more people of color and others who have lacked access to the shot.

The goal, officials said, is to make doses more accessible to people worried about the stigma of attending public vaccination events, or struggling to get appointments.

The Jynneos vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2019 for prevention of smallpox and monkeypox disease in adults at “high risk” for smallpox or monkeypox infection.

“People do very well with it,” Dr. Lewis said. “So if you qualify, we strongly encourage you to get vaccinated.”

The Snohomish Health District is prioritizing getting people their first jab of the two-dose vaccine until more supply is released from the federal government. But the first dose will provide good immunity, Dr. Lewis said.

Monkeypox is not new. Scientists have been researching the virus since the 1970s.

So far, since the 2022 outbreak began, “we haven’t seen anything that seems particularly different,” Dr. Lewis said.

Close contact is the primary mode of transmission. Touching a lesion on an infected person would be the highest risk, and the risk of infection decreases from there, he said.

“It’s clear that current outbreak is concentrated, unfortunately, in our MSM population of the country and around the world,” Dr. Lewis said, using an acronym meaning “men who have sex with men.”

The disease itself is not sexually transmitted, per se. But when you have sex, Dr. Lewis said, you have a lot of close contact, and that increases the risk of transmission.

The risk of getting monkeypox off a table in a restaurant? Or from a seat on a bus, train or plane?

Slim, Dr. Lewis said.

“I can’t tell you the risk is zero,” he said. “But it’s certainly not what’s driving transmission.”

For more information about monkeypox, or to find a vaccination appointment near you, head to snohd.org/monkeypox.

Isabella Breda: 425-339-3192; isabella.breda@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @BredaIsabella.