New York City said it has become the first city in the United States to offer monkeypox vaccines to a larger group of people at risk of contracting the disease.
CBS News reported that the city’s health authorities decided to give monkeypox vaccines to anyone “gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men” over the age of 18 who have “multiple or unknown sexual partners in the last 14 days.
The network said that the decision is in line with similar decisions taken by many countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, according to which they expanded the scope of vaccination against monkeypox.
While most outbreaks around the world have been in men who have had sex with men, authorities warn that anyone can contract the disease through close physical contact with an infected person.
And CBS New York reported that hundreds of people queued Thursday in front of health centers to get the vaccine.
Local officials say they are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to order more of the national stockpile of monkeypox vaccine.
Federal health officials confirmed that the CDC is now working with several state and local health departments across the country to expand eligibility for the monkeypox vaccine, as cases of the disease rise.
So far, more than 3,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been recorded worldwide, including 173 cases in the United States.
No deaths have been reported in the United States so far from the virus, which causes rashes and sores that can last for weeks.
Almost all cases so far are believed to have contracted the infection either through skin contact during intimate relationships or through the sharing of towels or bedding.
The network says the CDC also plans to study whether monkeypox is transmitted through semen, given that the majority of cases are related to sexual contact.
The ages of the infected patients ranged from 20 to 76 years, and most of them were men, with a very small number of women.