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 | | The New York Times |
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Vaccinating against monkeypox |
We're taking another break from our regularly scheduled Covid programming to follow new developments in the monkeypox outbreak. As cases continue to climb, the U.S. is beginning a new vaccination campaign. |
Previously, monkeypox immunizations were offered only to people with a known exposure, but now they will be offered to anyone who may have been exposed to the virus. |
"In other words, don't wait to seek out a vaccine if you think you may have been around someone who had it," my colleague Apoorva Mandavilli told me. |
Federal officials said that states would receive doses of a safer and newer monkeypox vaccine called Jynneos from the federal stockpile, based on a state's number of cases and the proportion of its population at risk for severe disease. |
The Health and Human Services Department will immediately make available 56,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine and will provide an additional 240,000 doses in the coming weeks. Another 750,000 doses are expected to become available over the summer, for a total of 1.6 million doses by the end of this year. |
State health authorities may also request supplies of ACAM2000, an older vaccine developed for smallpox that is believed to also protect against monkeypox. That vaccine, however, can have harsh side effects, some of which can be life-threatening for immuno-compromised people, pregnant women and older adults. |
As of today, there were 351 monkeypox cases in 27 states and the District of Columbia, up from 156 cases a week earlier. Experts believe those numbers are likely to be underestimates. |
The goal now should be to move quickly to contain the virus, but there are a number of roadblocks. |
"Vaccinations are essential for preventing more people from getting infected and for controlling this outbreak," Apoorva said. "But we don't have enough of them to meet the demand — not by a long shot. So it's going to take a while for them to be fully effective as a control measure." |
New York City, for example, had only 1,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine on hand. The city's health department began administering the vaccines at a single clinic last Thursday but quickly announced that it could no longer accommodate walk-ins. As of yesterday, the city was still waiting for more vaccine doses. |
Overall, experts said the campaign was too small and too slow to make an impact. The longer it takes to contain the monkeypox outbreak, researchers warned, the greater the chances will be that the virus becomes entrenched in the U.S., particularly among men who have sex with men. |
 | | "People who hadn't seen me were like, 'Oh, my gosh, you're a completely different person,'" said Tara Chhabra.M. Scott Brauer for The New York Times |
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We're continuing our check-ins with readers whose stories have resonated with many of you. Today we have an update from Tara Chhabra, who wrote this note from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in April 2021. It has been lightly edited. |
Now I read about people happily resuming pre-Covid activities, like meeting up with friends and family, socializing or getting excited to attend concerts and dine out. I can't at all relate. Pandemic isolation and introspection have been my sanctuary and bliss. I relished the relief of masks, of not being judged for my appearance, of getting a break from scrutiny about not smiling enough. I mourn the loss of all of this. I dread having to feign sociability again to be accepted in life and at work, acting my way through reacclimating to the majority's version of normal. |
I recently called Tara to find out how she's doing. "At the time that I wrote that I was just coming out of remote work and was really kind of stressed by the whole notion of having to return to in-person work after a year of being apart," she told me. |
She was the sole human resources person at her office and was responsible for navigating many of the thorny issues around Covid for more than 100 employees. "I was feeling really burned out by the whole experience," she said, "and I was not necessarily welcoming a return to face-to-face stuff." |
"I was like, You know what? Life is short and I want to be doing something different," she said. "I don't know exactly what, but I know that this is not the way I want to continue. It was terrifying. It was like going through the grieving process in some ways. It was letting go of who I had been." |
Tara took a few months to explore her passions. She wrote more and submitted her work to newspapers. She became braver, she said. She let her hair grow out. |
A year later, she now has more empathy toward people who wanted to find some semblance of normalcy in their lives after vaccination, she said. She is getting out more, too, although with some precautions. |
"We've sort of adapted," she said. "We'll go to concerts, but they're usually smaller venues. We'll eat out at restaurants, but usually at off hours." Bottom line: Social events are done on her terms. Life is as well. |
"I kind of wish this had happened when I was in my 20s," Tara said. "I think I would have made a lot of different life choices. I'm wired to be a people-pleaser and an empath, and I think the physical and social separation from others helped to recalibrate things a little bit for me. Not that I'm more selfish, but I'm just more self-aware, and less afraid to ask for what I think I need and want and deserve." |
What else we're following |
My 3-year-old was vaccinated a few days ago. I had prepared him for what it could feel like, and I worked hard to maintain my calm business-as-usual demeanor while we went in. This sweet little kiddo hopped up on the table, got the shot and didn't even cry. But me? I totally cried. I think it was the relief, the possibilities of what it could mean to my family to be fully vaccinated as a whole. To all the other pandemic parents of toddlers who have sacrificed so much to keep your families safe: I see you. It's our time! Let's do play dates and birthday parties and museums, and make normal toddler-parent friends. I can't wait to meet you! — Lacey Ladd, Indianapolis, Ind. |
Let us know how you're dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter. |
| Angela Jimenez compiled photos for this briefing. |
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