New York, San Francisco: Monkeypox threat to public health

New York and California health officials are sounding the alarm on the spread of the monkeypox virus, declaring threats to public health. 

In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed said that the city would declare a local public health emergency that would go into effect on the first of August. 

“This virus impacts everyone, but our LGBTQ community is seeing significant cases and we need action, we need more vaccines,” she tweeted. 

In a blog post, the mayor also said that the city’s Latino community is accounting for 30% of its cases “even though Latinos are only 15% of [its] population.” 

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“The most critical need right now is for more vaccines. The federal government distributes vaccine to state health departments and then the California Department of Public Health allocates to counties, such as San Francisco. We have no control over the vaccine amount we receive,” she said. “San Francisco needs more support, and we need more action. That’s why we are declaring a Local Emergency.”

The emergency order goes into effect Monday and must be approved by the board of supervisors within a week. 

According to NBC Bay Area, San Francisco now has more than 280 confirmed cases. 

Health officials anticipate that number will grow in the coming weeks.

The move comes as the Biden administration is considering the declaration of a public health emergency over monkeypox in the coming days. 

There are now more than 4,900 confirmed cases of monkeypox and orthopoxvirus across the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

California makes up nearly 800 of those cases, but New York’s exceed 1,200.

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On Thursday, the Empire State’s health commissioner declared monkeypox an “imminent threat to public health.” 

“Based on the ongoing spread of this virus, which has increased rapidly and affected primarily communities that identify as men who have sex with men, and the need for local jurisdictions to administer vaccines, I’ve declared monkeypox an Imminent Threat to Public Health throughout New York State,” State Commissioner of Health Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a statement. “This declaration means that local health departments engaged in response and prevention activities will be able to access additional State reimbursement, after other Federal and State funding sources are maximized, to protect all New Yorkers and ultimately limit the spread of monkeypox in our communities.”

On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said 110,00 monkeypox vaccine doses were secured for the state, which would be delivered over the course of the next four to six weeks. 

“With more than one-quarter of all cases in the U.S., New Yorkers, and especially our LGBTQ+ community, remain among the hardest-hit,” the governor added. “We will continue to advocate to the federal government for our fair share of vaccines based on the disease burden impacting New York.”

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, announced Thursday that an additional 786,000 doses of the vaccine would be deployed nationwide.

“Our goal is to stay ahead of this virus and end this outbreak. We have a strategy to deploy these additional vaccine doses in a way that protects those at risk and limits the spread of the virus, while also working with states to ensure equitable and fair distribution,” he said. “These vaccines are the result of years of federal investment and planning.”

On a call, Becerra told reporters the same day that the Biden administration believes it has “done everything we can at the federal level to work with… state and local partners and communities affected to make sure we can stay ahead of this and end this outbreak.”

Fox News’ Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.