TORONTO — Ontario’s top doctor says the province’s current monkeypox vaccination strategy is working and cases of the virus appear to be levelling off, but…
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said the province has vaccinated more than 20,000 people against monkeypox so far, with the priority group being gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men that meet certain criteria.
But for some, the province’s vaccination strategy doesn’t do enough to protect those living in high-risk settings like homeless shelters, noting a recent confirmed monkeypox case in a person who attended a Toronto shelter.Article content She also said the current monkeypox vaccine strategy doesn’t account for intersections between people who live in shelters and those who might be eligible for the shot, such as sex workers and people in the LGBTQ community experiencing homelessness, who may not have access to city-run immunization clinics.Article content
Toronto Public Health held pop-up monkeypox vaccine clinics at the shelter where a case was recently reported, which Moore says is part of Ontario’s “ring immunization” strategy targeting those who may have been exposed to a known case. Shahin also said the city’s monkeypox vaccine supply is “fairly limited,” though Moore said the province has a “significant reserve” of doses ready for emergency situations.