Lawmaker Warns San Francisco Faces 'Public Health Mess' Over Monkeypox Vaccine Shortage

A California state legislator representing the Bay Area declared San Francisco is "veering toward a public health mess" after the city’s Department of Public Health acknowledged it is running out of monkeypox vaccine and will have to shutter one of its clinics until the supply is replenished.

What Happened: According to an SFGate.com report, the San Francisco Department of Public Health warned that it only had 50 doses of monkeypox vaccine at its Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital as of July 13 and would close on July 14 until more doses are delivered.

The hospital’s other community clinics will continue to providing monkeypox vaccine dosing until their supplies are exhausted, which might be within the next few days.

State Rep. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) warned the evaporation of vaccine supply is coming as the demand for inoculation has intensified.

"This exhaustion of existing vaccine supply is happening exactly as San Francisco and other communities continue to see an increase in monkeypox infections and exposures," said Wiener in a press statement. "More vaccine doses will be sent to San Francisco shortly, but the amount will still be quite limited."

See Also: Quest Diagnostics Unveils Monkeypox Test: What You Need To Know

Why It Matters: California has the second-highest number of confirmed monkeypox cases in the nation, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — only New York City has a higher volume. Of the 158 confirmed cases in the state, 68 are in San Francisco.

The antiviral drug Jynneos from the Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic BVNRY was approved as a monkeypox vaccine in the U.S. in 2015. The San Francisco Department of Public Health release said it "urgently" ordered 35,000 new doses this week but did not know when they would be available. Wiener blamed the federal government for the vaccine shortage.

"Yet, the United States government ordered a mere 56,000 vaccine doses (enough for 28,000 people) for the national vaccine stockpile and failed to order the millions of doses that should have been ordered in preparation for an inevitable outbreak," he said.

See Also: White House Outlines New Monkeypox Vaccine Strategy: What You Need To Know

Photo: Liz Masoner/Pixabay