FRAMINGHAM — JRI Health’s state-backed monkeypox vaccination site doesn’t open until today, but demand for doses outstripped the Framingham site’s limited supply ahead of time.
One of 12 Massachusetts sites selected by the state’s Department of Public Health to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine, JRI Health received an initial 100 doses, according to Senior Vice President of Community Health John Gatto.
By Thursday morning, the site already had 110 people on its waiting list.
Demand for the monkeypox vaccine has surged nationwide since the virus, a milder cousin of smallpox, was first detected in the U.S. in May, according to USA TODAY. Cases had been reported in all but six states as of Thursday, per U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
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It’s not uncommon to see vaccination slots fill up quickly, according to Gatto.
“This is a fairly common response that other providers are finding as well; as soon as people know that the vaccine is available, people are scrambling to get it,” he said. “We hope that as we begin to roll it out, we will be able to meet that need.”
JRI Health’s site, at 1 Grant St., is slated to receive another 200 doses soon, Gatto said.
How prevalent is monkeypox?
Monkeypox isn’t new; the disease has been seen in parts of Central and West Africa for decades, believed to have jumped from animals to people, according to USA TODAY. Europe and the U.S. typically see several travelers a year arriving infected with monkeypox, but the ongoing — and widespread — chain of person-to-person transmission is unprecedented.
In the past week alone, Massachusetts tallied an additional 30 cases in adult men, the state’s DPH announced Thursday. Statewide, there have been 79 cases among residents since Massachusetts announced its first case on May 18.
How does monkeypox spread?
“The most important symptom is the rash, and the rash could start out as red spots, but as the days go on, these spots become little blisters, like what you would see similar to, say, chicken pox or shingles,” explained Dr. Michael Newstein, an infectious disease physician at Milford Regional Medical Center.
Often, he said, the rash is also accompanied by a fever or swollen lymph nodes. Though the virus is related to smallpox, it is not nearly as severe; monkeypox patients rarely get very sick and will generally heal on their own, Newstein said.
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According to the CDC, the virus can be spread person-to-person through direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs or bodily fluids, as well as through respiratory secretions during face-to-face contact, kissing, cuddling and sex.
Getting a vaccine after exposure should help prevent developing the disease, Newstein explained.
What happens if someone in MetroWest contracts monkeypox?
The DPH works with local health officials to identify people who may have been in contact with patients who test positive for monkeypox, according to the department’s monkeypox webpage.
“If a case were identified in Hopkinton or any other of the MetroWest communities, my understanding is that we would receive an alert, a communication package and vaccine to set up a clinic for the contacts,” Hopkinton Health Director Shaun McAuliffe told the Daily News in an email.
Who is eligible for a vaccine?
Vaccines are available to those who live or work in Massachusetts and meet the CDC’s eligibility criteria, according to the DPH.
This includes people who are known contacts identified by public health officials, or presumed contacts who have had a sexual partner within the past 14 days who was diagnosed with monkeypox, or who have had multiple sexual partners in the past 14 days in a jurisdiction with known monkeypox.
Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease, but can spread through close contact during sex. An overwhelming majority of cases have been among men who have sex with men, according to the academic journal Science.
More:Monkeypox is hitting the gay community the hardest, state official says
JRI Health works with the LGBTQ community through its Program RISE, which offers HIV counseling and prophylactic medication; STI and hepatitis testing; peer support; LGBTQ cultural competency and other services in MetroWest.
Monkeypox vaccination is an extension of JRI Health’s mission, Gatto explained.
“We’re, of course, sorry to be doing this and thrilled to be doing this,” he said. “Part of what I think is important in the state’s response is to leverage the skills and relationships of those of us who have been in HIV (response) and public health for many years.”
As an established organization in the community, JRI Health is well positioned to lend a hand in combating the outbreak, according to Gatto.
“We work hard to develop trusting relationships in the community, to be nimble, so that when there are concerns like this that arise, we can really relatively quickly pivot and implement new systems to respond to that,” he said.
How can you make a vaccination appointment?
Community members can make appointments at JRI Health’s Framingham site online through tinyurl.com/JRIHealthMonkeypox, or by calling 508-935-2960 on Mondays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The DPH also lists information on the other available vaccination sites at mass.gov/info-details/monkeypox-vaccination.
Bottom line: Should you be concerned?
“Right now, the people who should be concerned about it are those who have been in close contact with known or suspected cases of monkeypox, and that would be close — often intimate or sexual — contact,” Newstein said.
If someone is in one of the at-risk populations, especially if they’ve had contact with a known or suspected case, monkeypox “is something to be aware of,” he said. “It’s likely there are significantly more cases out there than what we’ve diagnosed so far.”
Newstein said some of those cases might have initially been misdiagnosed as other infections, such as herpes or shingles, so it’s important to consider monkeypox as a possibility if a patient has a lesion that isn’t responding to the usual treatment.
“It’s a new infection, and some people have been making comparisons to the early days of COVID,” Newstein said. “Thankfully, it is not spread nearly as easily as COVID, so people should be vigilant for it, but you should know what the risk factors are and how to avoid risk factors or take precautions if you’ve been exposed.”
