Beginning Tuesday, San Diego County will distribute 705 vials of monkeypox vaccine to health care providers around the region as use of a new treatment has been approved.
The vials are intended to be used for the newly authorized intradermal — or "within the skin" — procedure, allowing up to five doses from a single vial, which initially equaled a single dose. Some individuals, including those under 18 years old or who are immunocompromised, will still require a full-vial dose.
The county Health and Human Services Agency is making these vaccines available from its reserve pool.
"Being able to expand the number of doses through the intradermal procedure is going to help us vaccinate many more eligible San Diegans," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health officer. "Because the overall supply of vaccine remains extremely short of what is needed, we will continue to request additional doses from the state. In the meantime, we ask those at high risk to be cautious about their partners and have any signs of monkeypox immediately checked out by a physician."
Health care providers are expected to independently notify patients who qualify for the vaccine and then schedule vaccination appointments beginning this week.
The county's public health clinics began making a limited number of daily vaccinations available Monday through the state of California's MyTurn appointment system, the same one used to schedule COVID-19 vaccinations. According to the HHSA, county facilities will continue to vaccinate those who have a documented exposure and to serve individuals without a health care provider.
California allocates vaccines based on the number of monkeypox cases in each county in the past two weeks, as well as the number of early syphilis cases in men reported in a region. The county expects another 990 vials of the vaccine to arrive from the state soon.
San Diego County has recorded 223 cases of monkeypox, ranging in age from 20 to 64 and all among males.
