Kansas City gets more monkeypox vaccines — and more questions. Here’s who’s eligible

Kynala Phillips

The Kansas City Health Department has gotten more than four times as many calls about monkeypox vaccines in the first two weeks of August than it did in the last two weeks of July—212 compared to 45—as cases climb across the country and vaccines remain scarce.

But as interest in the vaccine increases, the department has also doubled its supply. Kansas City’s health department, which is responsible for vaccinating people in the entire northwest region of Missouri, got a shipment of 900 vaccine doses in July, and another 900 doses this week.

As of Wednesday, there are are five confirmed cases of monkeypox in Kansas City, 24 cases in Missouri and three cases in Kansas, according to the CDC.

In addition to getting more vaccine doses, the department was also given a green light by the state of Missouri to expand who is eligible to be vaccinated.

Half of the latest shipment of vaccines will be for people who don’t have a known exposure to the virus but are at high risk of infection.

“We are advocating for the people concerned and frightened because they are at high risk,” Michelle Pekarsky, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that can cause a skin rash, weakness, fatigue, fever and flu-like symptoms. It is named after the skin lesions it can cause, which often look like pimples or blisters. It can be extremely painful but is usually not deadly.

It is not a sexually-transmitted disease, it can spread through many types of physical contact and it can infect anyone of any gender or sexual identity.

So far during this outbreak, monkeypox is disproportionately affecting gay and bisexual men and their social networks, and people in these communities are the first eligible for the limited supply of vaccines.

Here’s who is now eligible for monkeypox vaccines in Kansas City

According to the Kansas City Health Department, the new vaccine eligibility will include communities that are considered high-risk:

  • Gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, or transgender people, who have had any of the following within the past 14 days:

  • Transgender men or women who have had two or more same-sex sexual partners in last 14 days

  • People who have engaged in a social and/or sexual venue in last 14 days, which could include interacting with someone with lesions at a bar or party or visiting a bathhouse or strip club

  • People who have given or received money or other goods/service in exchange for sex in last 14 days or have engaged in survival/work sex

If you are interested in getting a vaccine or getting tested for monkeypox call your local health department or your health care provider to see if you’re eligible.

Kansas City Health Department number for communicable disease and prevention: 816-513-6152

Jackson County Health Department: 816-404-6415

Clay County Health Department: 816-595-4200

Platte County Health Department: 816-858-2412

Johnson County Health Department: 913-715-2819

Wyandotte County Health Department: 913-573-8855

Advertisement