Monkeypox Los Angeles: What to know about vaccine availability, case numbers

Latest monkeypox news in Los Angeles

Visit L.A. County's website for in-depth vaccine information

L.A. County has expanded eligibility requirements for the monkeypox vaccine. It is now available to gay or bisexual men and transgender people who have had skin-to-skin contact with people at large venues or events in the last two weeks.

The new guidelines also make the vaccine accessible to people who have had sex in exchange for money -- regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. People who are eligible can sign up for vaccine notifications through L.A. County's website.

If you're looking to get a monkeypox vaccine in Long Beach, there's a new way for you to sign up for a dose. Starting Friday, the city is shifting its vaccine pre-registration program to the state's My Turn system. For more information, visit the city's website here.

A new monkeypox vaccination site is opening in El Monte at the Jack Crippen Senior Center, despite a low number of vaccines. The center is located at 3120 Tyler Ave. L.A. County says it received less than half the vaccines it expected to get from the federal government. There are only enough to administer 28,000 doses.

The Biden Administration is set to announce new steps to accelerate the response to the outbreak, including an additional 1.8 million doses.

Also Thursday, Los Angeles County announced an expansion of monkeypox vaccine eligibility to include those under age 18 who are considered at high risk of infection. L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said the county was expanding eligibility to those under age 18 "who are determined to be a high risk of monkeypox infection."

Doctors in France believe a dog has contracted the monkeypox virus from a human in a first reporter human-to-pet transmission. News of this was published in a medical journal called The Lancet and now doctors here in the states are reacting.

A new monkeypox vaccine site opened at Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood, but doses will be limited to people who pre-registered with Los Angeles County and have been notified that a vaccine is available.

The new site at 4800 Hollywood Boulevard is expected to vaccinate about 300 people per day, operating from noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to county Supervisor Hilda Solis' office.

A new pop-up clinic has opened in West Hollywood in hopes to have enough supply to last until the end of August. Among the more than 7,100 monkeypox cases reported in the U.S., more than 1300 are in California with more than 430 in L.A. County.

The Biden administration declared the current monkeypox outbreak to be a public health emergency in the U.S. on Thursday afternoon. The declaration, which was made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, comes a little less than two weeks after the World Health Organization designated the outbreak an emergency of international concern.

By issuing a declaration, HHS will be able to take a series of actions including accessing funds set aside for such an emergency as well as appointing personnel to positions directly responding to the emergency. It also gives Health Secretary Xavier Becerra significant flexibility to bend federal rules or waive requirements on government health programs like Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell Tuesday has issued a proclamation of local emergency for monkeypox to address the number of increasing cases in Los Angeles County.

The Board of Supervisors voted to ratify the proclamation of a local emergency on Tuesday. As part of the proclamation, the Board of Supervisors requested recovery assistance be made available under the California Disaster Assistance Act, and that the state expedite access to state and federal resources and any other appropriate federal disaster relief programs.

Also Tuesday, the city of Long Beach announced its first case of monkeypox in a child, believed to be only the second such case in California and one of a handful nationwide. The child, whose exact age was not disclosed, was symptomatic but has already recovered, the city's health department said.

Pasadena confirmed its first cases of monkeypox in the city. The four residents, described as adults, are said to be recovering and receiving support from the Pasadena Public Health Department.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared monkeypox a state of emergency in California. The move will help bolster the state's vaccination efforts.

The World Health Organization said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an "extraordinary" situation that now qualifies as a global emergency, a declaration Saturday that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines.

Two children have been diagnosed with monkeypox in the U.S., health officials said Friday. One is a toddler in California and the other is an infant who is not a U.S. resident but was tested while in Washington, D.C., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The children were described as being in good health and receiving treatment. How they caught the disease is being investigated, but officials think it was through household transmission.

Other details weren't immediately disclosed.

More than 2,400 cases have been reported in the U.S. since the outbreak emerged two months ago.

Monkeypox is endemic in parts of Africa, but this year more than 15,000 cases have been reported in countries that historically don't see the disease. In the U.S. and Europe, the vast majority of infections have happened in men who have sex with men, though health officials have stressed that anyone can catch the virus.

While some experts believe it's on the verge of being categorized as a sexually transmitted disease, others say testing and vaccines can stop the outbreak at its root.

L.A. County received nearly 10,000 monkeypox vaccine doses and is expected to get 7,000 more. Besides people who've had a close contact or have been at gatherings with a confirmed case, local health jurisdictions expanded who is eligible to get a Jynneos monkeypox vaccine.

The monkeypox vaccine in L.A. County is available for gay men, bisexual men and transgender persons who:

• - Were diagnosed with gonorrhea or early syphilis within the past 12 months; or

• - Are on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); or

• - Attended or worked at a commercial sex venue or other venue where they had anonymous sex or sex with multiple partners (e.g., saunas, bathhouses, sex clubs, sex party) within past 21 days.

L.A. County also rolled out a new online portal for residents to make vaccine appointments.

Citing a limited supply of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a health advisory encouraging residents to take precautions to avoid becoming infected with the disease.

The county health department said it will continue to expand eligibility for the vaccination as the federal government distributes additional doses.

MORE | What is monkeypox? What to know about virus, symptoms

Long Beach reports its first presumptive case of monkeypox. The case concerns an adult Long Beach resident with no recent travel history nor known contacts. The person was reportedly symptomatic and is recovering and isolating at home, city officials said.

More than 12,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported globally, including 1,814 cases in the United States, 250 in California and 85 in Los Angeles County.

The county expanded the eligibility criteria for residents to get the monkeypox vaccine after it received an additional 6,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine.

On this day, the vaccine became available (by invitation only) to the following:

• - Patients of community STD and HIV clinics, public health centers, and other community clinics across L.A. County who are gay and bisexual men and transgender women who are patients of an STD clinic with a diagnosis of rectal gonorrhea or early syphilis within recent months.

• - A limited number of high-risk people identified by clinical staff at Men's Central Jail.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health announced it was "aligning" with the federal nationwide monkeypox vaccination strategy, which focused on providing protection to those most at risk.

Up until this date, the department had administered nearly 800 vaccine doses to residents who were contacts of confirmed cases.

Officials confirmed local transmission of monkeypox in L.A. County as some of the recent cases at the time had no history of international or out-of-state travel.

Supplies of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine were limited at the time, but officials said they were offering the vaccine in a "targeted manner" to reach people with a higher risk of getting the virus

L.A. County's total number of monkeypox cases rose to four after two more cases were reported this day.

Both of those cases were listed as adult residents with a history of recent travel. They were symptomatic but doing well and isolating.

The county also announced all information regarding monkeypox cases was going to be distributed on the L.A. Public Health monkeypox webpage.

L.A. County health officials announced its second presumptive case of monkeypox almost a week after announcing its first.

According to a statement issued by the county Department of Public Health at the time, the patient was "an adult resident" who recently traveled.

They were symptomatic but doing well and was isolating away from others.

Health officials announced L.A. County's first presumptive case of monkeypox.

At the time, the health department noted that a final confirmation of the case by the CDC was pending.

They said the patient was an adult resident who had recently traveled and had a known close contact to a case. He or she was symptomatic, and officials reported they were "doing well" and was not hospitalized.

L.A. health officials issued an update after the first case of monkeypox in California was reported.

Sacramento Public Health officials said the infected person wasn't being identified, but officials said he or she had recently traveled to Europe where there were other cases of the disease.

At the time, officials said the risk of someone getting monkeypox in L.A. County "remained very low." There were no suspected or confirmed cases in the county.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced it was working with state and national partners after an international outbreak of monkeypox.