Lexington health agency will offer 700 monkeypox vaccines. Here’s how to get yours

Aaron Mudd

With more people now eligible to receive the monkeypox vaccine for free, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department is mobilizing more doses and will host its largest clinic yet Thursday.

The LFCHD announced Tuesday it will host a monkeypox vaccination clinic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at Central Baptist Church, located at 110 Wilson Downing Road, just off Nicholasville Road.

The health department has been offering limited doses of the monkeypox vaccine since Aug. 4, according to LFCHD spokesman Kevin Hall.

What sets Thursday’s clinic apart, Hall said, is that the LFCHD will be able to offer up to 700 shots. That makes it the largest such clinic yet for the agency. At a previous vaccination event Aug. 18, the LFCHD vaccinated more than 500 people.

Vaccine recipients must register in advance at www.lfchd.org/monkeypox and must wear a mask when they attend the clinic.

Who’s eligible to get the vaccine at the event Thursday?

Hall stressed individuals do not have to be a Fayette County resident in order to attend the mass vaccine event.

Individuals younger than age 18 may also receive the vaccine – provided a legal guardian is there with them when they get the shot.

Vaccine eligibility has also recently expanded beyond primarily gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men – a group that accounts for the vast majority of cases in the U.S.

Monkeypox can infect anyone, and as a virus that spreads through close skin-to-skin contact with infected individuals, people don’t necessarily have to have sex in order to contract it.

The recently expanded eligibility requirements include people who report any of the following:

  • Close contact to someone with known or suspected monkeypox virus (direct skin-to-skin contact or other close contact)

  • Diagnosis of HIV

  • Diagnosis of chlamydia, gonorrhea or early syphilis within the prior 12 months

  • Receiving medications to prevent HIV infection (PrEP)

  • Exchanging sex for money or non-monetary items

  • Attending an event/venue where there was a high risk of exposure to an individual(s) with monkeypox virus through skin-to-skin or sexual contact

  • Gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, or transgender people who are sexually active

  • Laboratory workers who routinely perform monkeypox or orthopox virus testing

  • Health care professionals who have had high-risk occupational exposure without using recommended personal protective equipment in the past 14 days

  • Individuals who, on a case-by-case basis, are determined at high risk for contracting monkeypox

With 27 cases confirmed in the state, Lexington expands monkeypox vaccine eligibility

With more than 18,000 confirmed cases nationwide, monkeypox continues to spread in Kentucky. Tuesday, the number of cases in the commonwealth had risen to 30, up from 27 the day before, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People with monkeypox may get a rash that may be located on or near the genitals (penis, testicles, labia and vagina) or anus and could be on other areas like the hands, feet, chest, face or mouth, according to the CDC.

The rash will go through several stages, including scabs, before healing. It can initially look like pimples or blisters and may be painful or itchy.

Other symptoms of monkeypox can include:

  • Fever

  • Chills

  • Swollen lymph nodes

  • Exhaustion

  • Muscle aches and backache

  • Headache

  • Respiratory symptoms (e.g. sore throat, nasal congestion or cough)

Still, others may experience only a few symptoms, according to the CDC.

Sometimes, people have flu-like symptoms before the rash, while other people get a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Others only experience a rash.

Do you have a question about monkeypox in Kentucky for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Know your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.

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