The Dallas County health department recently broadened its eligibility requirements for receiving the monkeypox vaccine.
After receiving 5,000 more vaccine vials, they were able to work their way through the waitlist and offer the vaccine to more people.
With the new method of injecting a smaller amount of vaccine (one-fifth of a vial) between layers of skin rather than a whole vial beneath the skin, the number of doses promptly went from 5,000 to 25,000.
Initially, the eligibility requirements for the vaccine were:
People who have had close, intimate, skin-to-skin contact with someone who has tested positive for monkeypox.
Men (cisgender and transgender) and transgender women older than 18 who have sex with men and who have also had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the past 14 days.
The criteria have now expanded to include:
- Men (cisgender and transgender) and transgender women who have sex with men and who met someone in person after meeting on a website or app, or at a social event, such as a bar or party, in the past 14 days.
- Other counties such as Harris also recently widened the parameters for vaccine eligibility. In those counties, people over 18 were eligible to receive the vaccine if they had been diagnosed with certain STDs in the past year.
According to Dallas’ Health and Human Services department, 416 cases have been confirmed in the county.
Texas had 1,283 confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases as of August 22, according to the CDC, the third-most in the U.S. behind California (2,663) and New York (2,910).
The Department of State Health Services reported that the Public Health Region that includes Dallas County had the largest number of cases in the state with 582.
Dallas residents who believe they are eligible for the vaccine can call the Dallas County health department’s hotline at 972-692-2780.