Community groups demand feds fix ‘woefully inadequate’ monkeypox response

The San Francisco Department of Public Health Tuesday reported 55 more monkeypox cases, bringing The City’s case total to 141. The total includes both probable cases and those confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health announced Friday that an additional 4,163 monkeypox vaccine doses would be received this week, though that is far below the 35,000 doses requested in order to meet demand. Residents hoping to be vaccinated have stood in line for hours outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and other clinics, often finding they have to be put on a waitlist as doses quickly run out.

City leaders and LGBTQ community groups rallied Monday outside the San Francisco Federal Building to demand the government expedite the release and distribution of more vaccine supply.

State Sen. Scott Wiener expressed frustration at the rally over what he sees as an “avoidable” vaccine shortage. Epidemiologists working in rural Africa have warned of the virus spread for decades — agreeing with many public health experts, Wiener believes the U.S. government dropped the ball.  

He said:

“Instead of us ordering a massive amount of those vaccines, first of all to vaccinate everyone in Central and West Africa to eradicate this virus, it said it was ignored.”

As of Tuesday, the CDC reports 267 confirmed cases in California, which only comes second to New York’s 581 cases. Illinois ranks third with 200 cases. The CDC totals do not reflect the many probable cases awaiting confirmation.

In a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote that monkeypox has had a “disportionate toll” on the LGBTQ community, which is facing “stigma and fear similar to which they endured in the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.”

She went on to say that the current supply of vaccines is “woefully inadequate” to meet current demand. Mayor London Breed echoed that sentiment in a similar letter addressed to Becerra.

Pelosi noted the department’s effort to obtain the Bavarian Nordic vaccine from a plant in Denmark, which was inspected by federal regulators last week. Additionally, feds said there are now five additional laboratories approved for monkeypox testing.

Tom Temprano, political director for Equality California, is concerned with upcoming events like the Dore Alley weekend celebration at the end of the month, adding:

“The time to stop monkeypox is not in the summer of 2023, it is right now.”

Lauren Thomas, director of HIV and harm reduction policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said there are more than 3,700 people on the organization’s vaccine waitlist.

Thomas said:

“We can vaccinate all of them immediately if only we had the vaccine.”

More information about monkeypox, including how and where to get the vaccine can be found at https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.