Vaccines are being distributed at men’s health clinics and bathhouses in Vancouver due to the spread of monkeypox, as 21 cases have been confirmed in British Columbia.
Hundreds of confirmed cases of monkeypox have been reported across the country, mostly in Quebec and Ontario. However, a case was confirmed on south Vancouver Island on Friday – the first confirmed case of monkeypox outside of the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) area.
The disease has not yet been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, despite the high number of cases being detected daily. Officials said the current risk to the public is very low.
Canadian officials, however, said the majority of people who tested positive for the virus had had sex with other men. This has led to VCH’s vaccination campaign at Men’s Health clinics and spas this week targeting those most at risk ahead of the Pride celebrations at the end of July.
Dr. Mark Lysishin, deputy chief health officer with VCH, said vaccine supplies are limited, but demand is high at the moment.
“Although we started vaccinating close contacts of cases and going to places where there has been exposure such as bathrooms or cruising areas, we have now expanded the vaccination campaign to people who are at risk of contracting monkeypox,” he said. to CBC News.
Lysyshyn said the vaccines come from national stockpiles managed by the federal government, and demand far outstrips supply.
“We have large outbreaks in Toronto and Montreal, and that’s why they’ve requested large quantities of vaccines,” he said. “We have a smaller outbreak here, but we want to avoid getting into the situation they’re seeing over there.”
Monkeypox can cause fever, aches and chills, and a characteristic rash or lesions all over the body.
Authorities stressed that the infection can spread to anyone who has been exposed through close contact with an infected person or contaminated objects, and is not limited to men who have sex with other men.
VCH is currently focusing on HIV clinics and bathrooms as part of the vaccine rollout and plans to establish a vaccination clinic in the West End – Vancouver’s historic center for the LGBTQ+ community.
More than 100 vaccinated at one event
Todd Berezovsky, general manager of Vancouver’s Steamworks Bathhouse, said there was a big uptake when his establishment held a two-day vaccination clinic last weekend.
He says 104 people have been vaccinated in two days and he feels obligated to his community to protect them from the virus.
“The way we really have to look at it right now is preemptively,” he said. “Let’s just get it out. People want it. Let’s make them so we don’t have these cases.”
A negative stain electron micrograph shows a mulberry-type monkeypox virus particle. The virus is not currently considered a threat to the general public. (CDC)
Berezovsky said it’s especially important to do this for the city’s gay community ahead of Vancouver’s parade, which officially begins on July 31 but will have multiple events in the week leading up to it.
He says he fielded calls for days after the vaccination clinic ended and hopes VCH will continue to expand vaccination efforts.
“I kind of feel like if we have enough vaccines right now, people should be able to line up and just go and get it.”
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