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The city’s third monkeypox vaccination clinic is set to open on Monday, August 1. DC Health is encouraging residents to pre-register for a monkeypox vaccination appointment.
Tomorrow, Friday, July 29, DC Health will post additional vaccination appointments. Once booking an appointment, residents may select their preferred vaccination site.
Eligiblity for the monkeypox vaccine requires a person be a District resident, 18 years of age or older, and:
- Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and have had multiple (more than one) or any anonymous sexual partners in the last 14 days; or
- Transgender women or nonbinary persons assigned male at birth who have sex with men; or
- Sex workers (of any sexual orientation/gender); or
- Staff (of any sexual orientation/gender) at establishments where sexual activity occurs (e.g., bathhouses, saunas, sex clubs)
Monkeypox vaccinations are confidential and District residents can pre-register for monkeypox vaccination appointments by visiting preventmonkeypox.dc.gov. All residents are invited to pre-register for a vaccination appointment, and those who are not currently eligible will be contacted if eligibility changes and appointments are available.
Monkeypox is a rare, but potentially serious viral illness that can be transmitted from person to person through direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids. It can spread during intimate physical contact between people, including sex, kissing, and hugging. It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or when a person touches fabrics, such as bedding and towels, used by a person with monkeypox.
Initial symptoms of monkeypox often include flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes, followed by a rash and lesions on the skin. Although the majority of cases do not require hospitalization, monkeypox is dangerous, highly contagious, and uncomfortable. While monkeypox can spread to anyone, the majority of current cases in the District are in men who have sex with men.
Anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox should talk to their healthcare provider about whether they need to get tested, even if they don’t think they had contact with someone who has monkeypox.