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2K doses of monkeypox vaccine arrive in Mass. Here’s where appointments are being offered

By Frank O'Laughlin, Boston 25 News
Renaming monkeypox FILE PHOTO: This digitally-colorized electron microscopic (EM) image depicted a monkeypox virion, obtained from a clinical sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. It was a thin section image from of a human skin sample. On the left were mature, oval-shaped virus particles, and on the right were the crescents, and spherical particles of immature virions. The WHO is considering renaming the disease. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regnery/cdc.gov)
By Frank O'Laughlin, Boston 25 News

BOSTON — Doses of the monkeypox vaccine arrived in Massachusetts this week and appointments are now being offered at four locations.

A limited supply of the JYNNEOS vaccine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been distributed and 2,004 doses arrived in the Bay on July 5, according to health officials. More vaccine is expected to become available in the coming weeks.

The JYNNEOS vaccine requires two shots, 28 days apart for maximum effectiveness. People are considered fully vaccinated about two weeks after their second shot.

Vaccines are available to people who live or work in the state and meet the CDC’s current eligibility:

  • Known contacts identified by public health via case investigation, contact tracing, and risk exposure assessments (this may include sexual partners, household contacts, and healthcare workers)
  • Presumed contacts who meet the following criteria:
    -- Know that a sexual partner in the past 14 days was diagnosed with monkeypox
    -- Had multiple sexual partners in the past 14 days in a jurisdiction with known monkeypox

Vaccine appointments are available at the following locations:

  • Fenway Health (Boston): Appointments can be made by calling 617-927-6060, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
  • Massachusetts General Hospital Sexual Health Clinic (Boston): Appointments can be made by calling 617-726-2748, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
  • Boston Medical Center Infectious Disease Clinic (Boston): Appointments can be made by calling 617-414-4290, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
  • Outer Cape Cod Health Services (Provincetown): Appointments can be made by calling 508-905-2888, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

There have been 21 total monkeypox cases recorded in Massachusetts since May 18.

How monkeypox spreads:

-Direct skin-to-skin contact with rash lesions. Sexual/intimate contact, including kissing while a person is infected.

-Living in a house and sharing a bed with someone. Sharing towels or unwashed clothing.

-Respiratory secretions through face-to-face interactions (the type that mainly happen when living with someone or caring for someone who has monkeypox).

Monkeypox does not spread through, or casual conversations, according to health officials.

Monkeypox symptoms:

-Early symptoms of monkeypox can include fever, headache, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes, but rash may be the first symptom.

-Rash lesions start flat, become raised, fill with clear fluid (vesicles), and then become pustules (filled with pus).

-A person with monkeypox can have many lesions or may have only a few. 

Learn more about how to recognize monkeypox.

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