HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Health Department is expected to lift a temporary hold on accepting new monkeypox vaccine appointments after Mayor Sylvester Turner announced additional vaccines are coming.
“The City of Houston has been notified (Thursday) that it will be getting additional #MonkeyPox vaccines. The @HoustonHealth Department hold is being removed and more formal statement is forthcoming,” Turner tweeted.
Just hours before that, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced a new allocation of 16,780 more monkeypox vaccines are arriving, with the first of three shipments set to be sent out Friday.
The development comes as both city and county made requests to receive more doses and additional shipments. Houston’s appointment hold was based on low supply.
The scarcity led residents who are searching for vaccines to face frustrating delays.
“I felt like it was important for me and my health to make sure I was protected,” Houston resident Austin Ruiz said. “Also, to protect those around me.”
Ruiz signed up for a monkeypox vaccine once they were made available. Still, he faced frustrating delays and unclear instructions and had to wait several hours to get his appointment. “It seems like we should learn a lot from the COVID pandemic,” Ruiz said. “About testing, about awareness, about making it easy and quick for people to get vaccinated.” Ruiz eventually got his vaccine, but not everyone doesn’t have that chance.
As of July 28, there are 58 cases in the city of Houston and 13 in unincorporated Harris County, bringing the total number of cases to 71.
If you already have an appointment or are identified through contact tracing, contact your doctor because vaccines are available.
“Theoretically, that can be exponential, as family members, as intimate partners, and that’s the purpose for contact tracing and setting criteria for who is eligible for vaccines so that we make sure that we are reaching those who are most vulnerable,” Dr. Ericka Brown, with Harris County Public Health, said.
The virus, similar to smallpox, is spread through close contact.
“If you have sores and lesions, your bedding, your home products, sharing utentials, using contact lenses or shaving,” explained Dr. Janeana White from the Houston Health Department. For more information, visit the Harris County website.
