'Our supply is still not sufficient for our demand' | Meck County monkeypox vaccination waitlist sits at 2,100

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Mecklenburg County still has a long waitlist for those who want the monkeypox vaccine, despite a shipment of 2,000 doses earlier last week.

"Our supply is still not sufficient for our demand. We have well over 2,100 people on our waitlist as of yesterday," Health Director Dr. Raynard Washington said Thursday. 

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But there's good news. Washington said he expects his department will be receiving routine shipments of the vaccine going forward.  

"We are we're working as quickly as possible to vaccinate as many people as possible," he said.  

RELATED: Here's how the federal government decides monkeypox vaccine allocations

Currently, the virus is impacting the LGBTQ community disproportionately.   Washington said that's possibly one reason why Charlotte is seeing a large uptick in cases than the rest of North Carolina.

"The size of the LGBTQ population here Mecklenburg County, being greater than potentially some other counties in the state," he said.

Washington said those who qualify should get on the waitlist for the vaccine at mecknc.gov.

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Dr. Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist with South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control, said the federal government takes multiple factors into account when determining how many doses to send each state.

"Seventy-five percent is weighted for the disease burden in the jurisdiction, and then 25% for the at-risk population," Bell said.

North Carolina has set its at-risk criteria for vaccination as follows:

• Anyone who had close contact in the past two weeks with someone who has been diagnosed with monkeypox
• Gay or bisexual men or transgender individuals who report any of the following in the last 90 days:
  • Having multiple sex partners or anonymous sex
  • Being diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection
  • Receiving medications to prevent HIV infection (PrEP)

Flashpoint is a weekly in-depth look at politics in Charlotte, North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond with host Ben Thompson. Listen to the podcast weekly.
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