NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- New York Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett on Thursday declared monkeypox "an imminent threat to public health" amid "the ongoing spread of the virus, which has increased rapidly."
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"This declaration means that local health departments engaged in response and prevention activities will be able to access additional State reimbursement, after other Federal and State funding sources are maximized, to protect all New Yorkers and ultimately limit the spread of monkeypox in our communities," Basset added in her statement.
Though the virus has "affected primarily communities that identify as men who have sex with men," Basset said she declared the declaration based on "the need for local jurisdictions to administer vaccines."
The department stresses that anyone can get monkeypox, which is primarily spread through close, physical contact between people. The current global outbreak looks to be driven by exposure related to intimate, sexual contact.
The virus can also be transmitted by touching linens used by someone with the infection. People with monkeypox may experience fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. Many in the outbreak have developed sometimes-painful zit-like bumps.
The declaration, which is retroactive to June 1 and will remain effective through the end of 2022, comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that the state will receive 110,000 more monkeypox vaccine doses from the federal government, with 80,000 vaccine doses headed for New York City.
Another 30,000 doses of the vaccine will be sent to the rest of the state.
Schumer called the distribution a "big win for public health" in New York and said more doses "are on the way."
"The federal government has more work to do to fully contain the monkeypox threat, but today marks a critical step in that fight and delivers a huge sigh of relief to New Yorkers waiting for their monkeypox vaccine," Schumer said in a statement to Politico.
Gov. Kathy Hochul praised the Biden administration and other federal officials for the latest vaccine shipment that builds "on the more than 60,000 monkeypox doses that New York City and New York State have received to date due to our ongoing coordination with the federal government."
"With more than one-quarter of all cases in the U.S., New Yorkers, and especially our LGBTQ+ community, remain among the hardest-hit. We will continue to advocate to the federal government for our fair share of vaccines based on the disease burden impacting New York," Hochul said.
She added, "My team and I have been working around the clock to confront the monkeypox outbreak and keep New Yorkers safe, and we will continue our ongoing efforts to secure more vaccines, expand testing capacity, and educate the public on how to identify symptoms and protect themselves."
The Biden administration's top health official on Thursday pushed back against criticism about the pace of the response and worries that the U.S. has missed the window to contain the virus, which has been declared a global emergency.
"We believe we have done everything we can at the federal level to work with our state and local partners and communities affected to make sure we can stay ahead of this and end this outbreak," Xavier Becerra, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters on a call.
But he added that local health officials "must do their part. ... We don’t have the authority to tell them what to do."
The pushback from federal leaders came as they announced distribution plans for 780,000 shots of the two-dose Jynneos vaccine. The doses will be allocated to states, cities and other localities based on their case numbers and the size of their populations that are considered high-risk for the disease.
There were more than 4,600 reported monkeypox cases in the U.S. as of late Wednesday, according to the CDC, and federal officials expect those numbers to rise.
The U.S. is now capable of testing 60,000 to 80,000 people per day, though Becerra said daily testing numbers are well below that.
The Biden administration could declare monkeypox a health emergency by the end of the week, according to Politico.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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