The federal changes Tuesday night on the administering of the monkeypox vaccine was great news for Dr. Cherise Rohr-Allegrini with the San Antonio Aids Foundation.
“Basically by decreasing the volume that we need to give for a vaccine, it increases our doses by five times. That’s huge,” Allegrini said.
The 250-plus patients the Care Clinic looks after will now all be able to get the monkeypox vaccine.
Clinics have been forced to prioritize their list. In early August, Metro Health announced it received 1,000 vaccines, and those would be distributed among six local AIDS and community-based organizations.
Metro Health said it does not yet have a count of how many doses the organizations have left.
There have been 42 doses administered so far to those who have had close contact with someone who has monkeypox.
Some clinics have already administered all their allotted doses but are waiting on more.
The change in dosing also means a change in how the vaccine is administered.
Metro Health said it’s reviewing the process with its staff and also training any organization that needs a review.