The city of New York declared a state of emergency on Saturday for being “the epicenter of the outbreak” of monkeypox and estimated that “approximately 150,000 New Yorkers may currently be at risk of exposure” of this virus.
“This declaration, effective immediately, will allow the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to issue emergency commissioner orders under the New York City Health Code and modify the Health Code provisions to provide measures to help slow the spread,” Mayor Eric Adams and DOHMH Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said in a joint statement yesterday.
In addition, they noted that the two departments are working “with partners at all levels of government” to get additional doses of monkeypox vaccine as quickly as possible and “protect New Yorkers during this growing outbreak.”
For its part, the state of New York also declared a state of emergency on Friday.
In mid-July, New York activated a monkeypox cell phone reporting system by texting “MONKEYPOX” or “MONKEYPOXESP” to a local phone number (81336).
The messages include information on the symptoms and transmission of the disease, as well as guidelines for action after exposure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States have determined that the JYNNEOS vaccine, specific against this disease, be offered as a priority to all risk groups.
These include people who have had close physical contact with an infected person, who have had an infected sexual partner, or who have had sexual intercourse in a location where a monkeypox outbreak has been identified.