The Georgia Department of Public Health on Wednesday announced the Coastal Health District’s monkeypox vaccination program was expanding.
With at least 6,600 Americans already infected, President Biden declared monkeypox a public health emergency Thursday. As of Friday, Florida had the third most confirmed cases in the nation -- 577. Georgia is not far behind with the 6th highest.
In addition to the Chatham County Health Department in Savannah, the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine will also be available at the Glynn County Health Department in Brunswick beginning Aug. 5.
Related: US declares public health emergency over monkeypox outbreak | Gov. DeSantis says he won’t declare state of emergency against Monkeypox
You must have an appointment for vaccination as supply is still limited. Appointments can be scheduled online at coastalhealthdistrict.org/monkeypox. The Health Department said the first batch of appointments filled in less than 24 hours, and appointments are expected to continue to fill quickly. Additional appointments will be added as more vaccine arrives.
To be eligible, you must be at least 18 or older and meet the following criteria:
- Individual is a gay male, a bisexual male, or a male that has sex with other males.
- Individual has had a sexual partner in the past 14 days who has received a monkeypox diagnosis
- OR had multiple sexual partners in the past 14 days in an area with known monkeypox.
- Individual currently does NOT have signs or symptoms consistent with a monkeypox infection
It’s important to note that anyone can be infected. It is possible to contract monkeypox by touching contaminated surfaces -- but researchers say that is rare because it takes longer periods of interaction and a lot of virus buildup in one place for that to occur.
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In order to get vaccinated here in Glynn County or in Chatham County, you have to make an appointment ahead of time. Walk-ins are not allowed.