People wait in line to register for a monkeypox vaccination on July 29, 2022 in New York City.
John Smith | Corbis News | Getty Images
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on Friday night due to the continued spread of monkeypox.
She said declaring a state of emergency would lead to a faster response and better distribution of vaccinations. It came a day after New York State’s health commissioner declared monkeypox an “imminent threat to public health.”
“I am declaring a national emergency to strengthen our ongoing efforts to address the monkeypox outbreak,” Hochul tweeted Friday.
Hochul pointed out that the state is an emerging center for the virus, which manifests itself in symptoms of rashes and lesions on the body, limbs and genitals.
New York has the most cases of the virus nationwide — 1,345 — followed by California with 799, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last updated on Friday.
“More than one in four cases of monkeypox in this country are in New York State, and we must use every tool in our arsenal as we respond,” Hochul wrote.
The state of emergency, enacted by executive order, allows emergency medical personnel, pharmacists, midwives, physicians and registered nurses to administer vaccinations, the governor’s office said in a statement.
The state is already in the process of securing more vaccines, expanding testing and disseminating information through a website and text notification system, the governor’s office said.
On Thursday, Hochul said a new federal government allocation would mean 110,000 additional doses of monkeypox vaccine for the state, for a total of 170,000 so far.
The governor stressed the importance of getting vaccines to neighborhoods and communities affected by the rapid spread.
“It is particularly important to recognize the ways in which this epidemic is currently having a disproportionate impact on certain at-risk groups,” she said in the statement late Friday.
The virus, spread through physical contact, can develop flu-like symptoms and its initial effects can last up to four weeks.
Because men who have sex with men are in the cohort at highest risk for the virus, the World Health Organization on Wednesday recommended that people in this group limit their number of sexual partners as a precaution.
Cases of monkeypox have been reported this year in 71 countries where it was previously unknown or unreported, according to the CDC.
The U.S. has reported 5,189 cases this year, according to CDC data as of Friday.
Oh, and Thursday the city of San Francisco declared its own health emergency over the virus.
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