Dallas County again expands monkeypox vaccine eligibility

Dallas County once again expanded its monkeypox vaccine eligibility criteria Wednesday after increasing the number of doses available by using a new vaccine administration technique. Men and transgender women who have sex with men can now receive the JYNNEOS vaccine if they had skin-to-skin or intimate contact with people at large venues or events in the past two weeks. The eligibility criteria also expanded to include people 18 and older who were diagnosed with HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea or early syphilis within the past year or who are on PrEP, an HIV prevention medication. The expansion comes one week after the county health department added another group to the list of people who can receive the two-dose vaccine series: men and transgender women who have sex with men and met partners through a website, app or social event, like a bar or party, in the past two weeks.

“We’re expanding the circle of people who can get the vaccine so we can protect the people most at risk,” said Dr. Philip Huang, the county’s top health official. “We want to make the doses we have of the vaccine count.” Previously the vaccine was restricted to two categories: people who had skin-to-skin contact with someone with the virus, and men who have sex with men and who have had multiple or anonymous partners in the previous two weeks. This changed after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of a new vaccination method in an effort to stretch the short-supplied vaccine treatment. Now, smaller doses — about one-fifth of a vial — can be injected between layers of skin rather than underneath the skin. Dallas County is still working through the 5,000 vials of the monkeypox vaccine it received over a week ago. The vials equate to up to 25,000 doses when administered through the new method. Monkeypox cases in Houston and Harris County have surpassed those in Dallas County, giving it the largest portion of cases in the state. Houston and Harris County reported 455 total cases as of Sunday, while Dallas County reported 444 cases as of Tuesday.