| NEWS | Monkeypox Maricopa County prioritizes gay, trans men for monkeypox vaccine. BY KIERA RILEY H undreds of people received their first dose of the monkeypox vaccine recently at a clinic in Phoenix aimed at LGBTQ people at high risk for the virus. Some 611 people were vaccinated during the three-hour walk-up window on July 21, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. The free vaccine event at the county’s STD clinic on East Roosevelt Street was the first of its kind for the health department. The vaccine clinic was open to people who identify as gay or bisexual; cis or trans men; and trans women who have intimate or sexual contact with men, multiple anon- ymous partners or take part in sex work. “They were moving through people really quick,” said Taylor Piontek, director of clinical services at Southwest Center, an LGBTQ+ health care clinic in Phoenix. “The process was pretty seamless.” He was among the people who received the vaccine at the clinic. The health department is hosting another vaccine clinic on August 8. Maricopa County reported 21 confirmed cases and 14 probable cases of monkeypox as of July 22. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has confirmed 29 cases in Arizona and 2,891 across the country. Anyone is susceptible to the virus, but the CDC said monkeypox is having a disproportionate impact on “gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.” Matt Hennie Hundreds of doses of a vaccine for monkeypox were doled out during a clinic in Phoenix for LGBTQ people on July 21. Although health care providers and advocates want to continue emphasizing education, outreach, and response among LGBTQ people, they fear siloed public messaging could result in further stigma- tization and increase the public health risk generally. “It’s important for us to remember that this isn’t only an LGBTQ+ thing,” Piontek said. “It can happen to heterosexual couples or bisexual couples or gender- expansive couples.” Monkeypox is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, prolonged face-to- face contact, or contaminated clothes or linens. The illness brings about a rash or sores, as well as fever, aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. It lasts about two to four weeks. The first monkeypox case in the U.S. in 2022 surfaced on May 18 in Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The first case in Maricopa County was announced in early June. Testing became available in Maricopa County on July 13 through Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp, and Mayo Clinic Laboratories, with results returning within two to three days. Local response to the virus has been limited due to national strains on vaccine supply. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported distributing nearly 200,000 vaccines nationwide in recent weeks and is preparing another 800,000 vaccines for delivery this summer. When the first case was reported in Arizona, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health received 100 doses of the vaccine and then an additional 334 doses that were used for people exposed to the virus, according to Sonia Singh, a spokesperson for the agency. Maricopa County is one of the >> p 13 11 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES AUG 4TH–AUG 10TH, 2022
