New York City Surpasses 1,000 Confirmed Monkeypox Cases

New York City now has over 1,000 confirmed Monkeypox cases, according to the city’s Health Department.

The development come as the World Health Organization declared that the global spread of Monkeypox was an international health emergency. As of Tuesday, the United States leads the world in cases, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 3,500 cases have been reported in the country.

“We’re grateful for the World Health Organization’s recognition that monkeypox is a global emergency. In New York City; the outbreak has been a local emergency for weeks,” Ashwin Vasan, New York City’s Health Commissioner, said on social media Monday.

“This outbreak must be met with urgency, action and resources, nationally and globally. This declaration reflects the seriousness of the moment.”

The New York Daily News reports:

The increase in people testing positive for monkeypox in New York also comes as the city continues to call on the federal government to send more vaccine doses here and just days after the Health Department opened its first permanent vaccination sites — one at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx and the other at Gotham Health Vanderbilt on Staten Island.

So far, the disease has mostly infected gay men, which has prompted the Health Department to focus much of its outreach efforts on that community.

Some Democrats, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), have expressed frustration over the handling of Monkeypox, particularly the lack of available vaccines.

“I don’t know why there aren’t more vaccines available,” Schiff told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “I’m hearing from health care providers in my district that there are people lining up to get vaccinated, and they don’t have the vaccines for them, and that is a real problem. As I think you indicated, we really don’t know the future course of this virus. But what we do now, early on, just as was the case with the pandemic, will determine just how bad this may get.”

“I want to light a fire under the administration and get them to make sure that we up production, that we up distribution and that people that are ready and willing and able to get vaccinated have the ability to protect themselves,” the lawmaker added.

The Biden administration is considering declaring the outbreak a health emergency, according to the Washington Post.