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You are at:Home»Community»Calls for Equity, Expanded Access Dominate Monkeypox Town Hall

Calls for Equity, Expanded Access Dominate Monkeypox Town Hall

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By on July 29, 2022 Community, Health

By Reid Nakamura

As the human monkeypox (hMPXV) outbreak continues to spread in L.A. County, concerned residents at a town hall on Wednesday, July 27, called on public health officials to respond more aggressively to the crisis, demanding that more be done to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.

Hosted by the Los Angeles Blade in partnership with the Los Angeles LGBT Center and other community partners, the town hall featured a range of panelists, including representatives from the L.A. County Department of Public Health (DPH), a recently recovered hMPXV patient, LGBT community clinic representatives, and prevention advocates.

Representing the Center’s Trans Wellness Center on the panel, Mariana Marroquin highlighted the importance of including voices from underrepresented communities in the response to the current outbreak, as well as in broader conversations about public health. The transgender community, the unhoused population of Los Angeles, and non-English speaking residents must not be forgotten in the response to the crisis, Marroquin said.

“There are so many trans people out there struggling, existing, having to do sex work for a living, engaging in risky behavior because they need a place to stay. Because they need something to eat,” she said. “We need to make sure when we share information that we don’t forget about the people in our community.”

“Education and access are two important pillars of the Los Angeles LGBT Center,” she said. “I am always thinking about who is not able to go online and get an email, who is not able to receive a text message. We always need to keep in mind people who live on the streets, people who don’t have access to that kind of technology.”

Marroquin concluded by calling for a commitment from public health officials, community healthcare providers, and the LGBTQ community at large:

“I want a commitment to make sure that we always have a space in those decision-making meetings. We need those resources to take care of each other, because we know what’s going on within our community.”

L.A. County has confirmed more than 300 cases of hMPXV since the outbreak began, with the vast majority — 85 percent, according to the most recent demographic data — occurring among the LGBTQ population. Physicians estimate the total number of cases to be higher, as these are only the cases that have been reported.

Nearly a third of all cases have affected the Latino community, leading multiple attendees on Wednesday to call on public health officials to do more to include Spanish-speaking residents in their outreach efforts.

Alexandra Magallon, coordinator of policy and community engagement for The [email protected] Coalition, told the story of an at-risk client who sought out the Jynneos vaccine but was turned away.

“A lot of our community members that are deeply affected and impacted by this may not have access to medical or may not even have access to the very clinics that you’re working with,” she said. “What is the county doing for the Latino population, and specifically in the transgender population?”

DPH’s Dr. Leo Moore and Dr. Andrea Kim represented the county at the town hall, providing an update on the vaccine rollout and other efforts being made to slow the spread of the virus. By the end of the week, L.A. County is expected to have distributed a total of more than 24,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine, with more coming from the federal government next month.

“It breaks my heart to hear that people are being turned away, but it really is a supply issue,” said Dr. Kim. She said the county could receive its next batch of doses as early as next week, allowing a greater segment of the population to get vaccinated.

“I think it’s really important for us to make sure that community clinics include the vaccine in the routine clinical care,” she said. “It’s got to be sustainable.”

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L.A. County is prioritizing first doses in its #hM L.A. County is prioritizing first doses in its #hMPXV vaccination effort.

“There is good science to back that change," says Dr. Ward Carpenter, the Center's director of Health Services.

Read the full story at @latimes and click the link in our bio to learn more.
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Are you stressed about #humanmonkeypox? Are you wo Are you stressed about #humanmonkeypox?
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Need a space to vent and share about this traumatic situation?
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Join us for a #HealingCircle to share your stories, find comfort in #community, and support one another. 
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Monkeypox Community #Healing #Circle
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To help keep our community as safe as possible, standard #COVID19 precautions will be in place for the in-person session, and we ask anyone with symptoms that could be or are confirmed to be monkeypox to join only the online session.
Stay up to date on #hMPXV and the Center's respons Stay up to date on #hMPXV and the Center's response by visiting lgbtnewsnow.org/monkeypox
UPDATE: Effective immediately, the Los Angeles LGB UPDATE: Effective immediately, the Los Angeles LGBT Center will comply with L.A. County guidance to prioritize administering first doses of the JYNNEOS human monkeypox (hMPXV) vaccine and only offer second doses to moderately or severely immunocompromised individuals. 
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This will include those with advanced or poorly controlled HIV infection. This strategy will remain in effect until more doses become available for eligible community members.
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Neither one nor two doses of vaccine are 100% effective at preventing hMPXV infection. As such, additional harm reduction strategies like minimizing skin-to-skin contact with others, using condoms, limiting sexual partners, and wearing clothing while in settings like dancefloors where prolonged contact may occur are encouraged regardless of vaccine status. 
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L.A. County guidance is aligned with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and many other large city jurisdictions including New York City and Washington D.C.
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The Los Angeles LGBT Center appreciates your understanding and support of this strategy as it will allow more people who are at risk for hMPXV to be better protected. Please know that the Center will continue our efforts to demand that The White House make more doses of JYNNEOS as well as treatment available to our community.
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Please visit the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s Monkeypox Prevention site for more information or lalgbtcenter.org/monkeypox
Our confidence in the #Biden Administration’s ab Our confidence in the #Biden Administration’s ability to halt the spread of #hMPXV is strengthened with the appointment of a @WhiteHouse human monkeypox team, which includes @drdemetre as the deputy coordinator. #DrDaskalakis, a well-known gay activist, has an extensive history in #HIV/#AIDS work, and with his leadership, the team will be able to develop a more coordinated and robust response that should also address the stigma associated with hMPXV and the #LGBTQ community.
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