St. John’s Begins Monkeypox Vaccination; Reports 100 Young Children Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine Daily
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 21 2022
Contact: Cabot Petoia, clpetoia@gmail.com, 828-899-9239
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Los Angeles — Today, St. John’s Community Health reported that their clinics are gearing up to begin administering yet another vaccine – monkeypox.
So far, they’ve administered about 100 monkeypox vaccines, as supply is limited. Over the next month, they will prioritize LGBTQ+ and HIV positive patients in their vaccine outreach efforts, but expect to begin offering the vaccine to all patients by the end of August.
Last week, up to 72 percent of patients who came to their clinics for COVID-19 testing received a positive result, and St. John’s prescribed Paxlovid to 23 people who were high risk and/or had severe symptoms.
They’re also administering the COVID-19 vaccine to about 250 people per day, about 100 of whom are children under the age of 5.
“We must heed the lessons learned from the botched response to COVID-19, and ensure the public is educated and equipped to deal with the spread of monkeypox,” said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John’s Community Health. “While monkeypox is not nearly as dangerous as COVID-19, it is still a virus that could impact the livelihoods of many – especially hourly workers already struggling to make ends meet. People are physically, emotionally, and financially exhausted by the last couple of years, and need concrete guidance and solutions to deal with the latest public health risk.”