Senator Wiener and Assemblymember Haney Joint Statement on Growing Monkeypox Outbreak

SAN FRANCISCO - Monkeypox is a growing public health issue in our community. While the
virus can infect anyone, it is particularly impacting gay and bisexual men. We have very little
time to contain this outbreak and prevent it from getting out of control and potentially becoming
endemic. The good news is that we have an effective vaccine that prevents monkeypox. The bad
news is that the federal government has once again had a public health failure, this time by
failing to order enough vaccine doses to prepare for this foreseeable outbreak. The federal
government needs to dramatically increase the supply of the vaccine and distribute it to impacted
local communities as quickly as possible. We have no time to spare. It’s completely unacceptable
that the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and other community clinics are receiving so few doses.
We need a sufficient quantity of vaccines so that everyone who is at risk has access.