Sophie Atkinson: At 73, and with mobility issues, Jonathan Blake's ideal Sunday doesn't involve standing in line for three hours.
But after seeing a post from a Facebook friend last week, Blake hurried to a walk-in vaccination clinic at Guy's Hospital in central London, in the hopes of receiving a monkeypox vaccine – the same jab that protects against smallpox. The hospital is one of dozens around the country that has found itself dealing with another public health emergency in the form of the virus, which, though usually mild, causes fever and a painful rash.
On 23 July, in a World Health Organisation briefing declaring monkeypox a "public health emergency of international concern", WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that efforts to contain the virus would initially focuson men who have sex with men (MSM). Monkeypox is spread via close contact and the 2022 Western outbreak has predominantly presented in this demographic; aat the time of writing, 98% of known monkeypox infections were in gay or bisexual men and in 95% of cases, transmission was suspected to have occured via sexual activity.
"I've had a recent pox scare, I'm about to go on a huge trip," Blake, a longtime HIV activist, told Novara Media. "I'm a man who has sex with men, so I thought I want to have as much cover as I can possibly get."
To combat spread, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is inviting the highest risk MSM – such as those with a recent history of multiple partners, participating in group sex or attending sex parties – to be vaccinated first. The UKHSA recently announced it's acquired more than 100,000 monkeypox vaccine doses, in addition to existing stocks, and will deliver the first 20,000 by the "end of August".
But there are concerns that, since sexual health services are predominantly funded by local authorities, the response to the monkeypox outbreak could replicate existing inequalities in healthcare provision across England. | |
Vidaextra 
