DENVER — The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE) is hosting a monkeypox vaccine clinic on Saturday.
The clinic will take place between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Swansea Recreation Center at 2650 E. 49th Ave. in Denver.
Appointments are available to people who "self-attest to their eligibility through the appointment request form," DDPHE said in the release.
The criteria determining if someone is eligible for the vaccine recently expanded. People who are eligible for the vaccine include the following:
- Anyone who has had close physical contact with someone who has monkeypox in the last 14 days.
- Anyone who:
- Has multiple or anonymous sexual partners, or
- Has close physical contact with other people in a venue where anonymous or group sex may occur, or
- Was diagnosed with gonorrhea or syphilis in the past six months, or
- Is living with HIV, or
- Already uses or is eligible for HIV PrEP (medication to prevent HIV, e.g. Truvada or Descovy or Apretude), or
- Engages in commercial and/or transactional sex (e.g. sex in exchange for money, shelter, food, and other goods or needs).
- Anyone identified by public health as a known high-risk contact of someone who has monkeypox.
The JYNNEOS vaccine is a fully FDA-approved two-dose vaccine. The doses are given four weeks apart.
The vaccine can prevent people from getting sick at all if they are vaccinated within four days of a monkeypox exposure. If the vaccine is given between four and 14 days, it can still help prevent severe illness but may not completely prevent infection.
Monkeypox may begin with flu-like symptoms that can include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and exhaustion. Typically, a rash or skin bumps develop within one to three days after the onset of fever.
Monkeypox can look like syphilis, herpes, blisters or acne, DDPHE said. However, in recent cases additional symptoms have not always shown, or have not shown at all, before the rash or bumps appear.
Anyone who thinks they may have been exposed to monkeypox should avoid physical contact with others and immediately contact a health provider.
More information on monkeypox in Colorado can be found on DDPHE's website and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment's website.
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