NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — New York City health officials announced on Wednesday that the city has received new monkeypox vaccines and will open appointments again on Wednesday afternoon.
"UPDATE: Monkeypox vaccine doses have arrived in NYC!" the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a tweet on Wednesday. "We plan to make appointments available starting this afternoon."
The update comes a day after the department said that 111 people in the city had tested positive for orthopoxvirus, which is presumed to be monkeypox. That's almost double the case count in one week and nearly a 30% increase in infections since Friday's count.
The city continues to highlight that although anybody can contract and spread monkeypox, the current cases are primarily among the social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
Just before the city marked its official Pride weekend, the Chelsea Sexual Health Clinic, the lone clinic offering the vaccine, was forced to stop walk-in appointments due to high demand.
Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.
The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals. It does not usually spread easily among people.
In May, cases began emerging in Europe and the United States. Many of those who contracted the virus had traveled internationally.
There have been no U.S. deaths reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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