Local Kentucky health department begins offering monkeypox vaccine in 4 counties

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The North Central District Health Department will soon offer the JYNNEOS vaccine for monkeypox.

Anyone who makes an appointment here can receive the vaccine.

However, only a small number of vaccines were made available for use in Kentucky due to the low number of monkeypox cases statewide.

"We are very happy to be able to get this limited number of vaccines to make available in our district," Roanya Rice, director of public health for the NCDHD, said in a news release Tuesday. "We want to make sure we are able to reach our most vulnerable populations in each county to help control the spread of the is virus."

The Kentucky Department of Public Health set the following criteria for screening who can receive the vaccine. Those eligible must fit into one of these categories:

Anyone with a high or immediate risk of exposure to someone with monkeypox, meaning direct skin-to-skin contact or other close contact
Men who have sex with men, including those who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming, gender nonbinary
- Have had multiple or anonymous male, transgender or non-conforming sex partners in the past 14 days
- Have a diagnosis of gonorrhea and/or early syphilis within the past 12 months
- Are on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
Persons who attended an event/venue where there was a high risk of exposure to an individual(s) with confirmed monkeypox through skin-to-skin or sexual contact in the last 14 days
Individuals who, on a case-by-case basis, are determined to have reasonable suspicion of recent direct skin-to-skin contact to a known or suspected case of monkeypox

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