Santa Clara County health officials are sounding the alarm as monkeypox disproportionally hits the Latino community in the Bay Area.
Dr. Sara Cody and local health leaders held a press conference Wednesday and said more than half of the local cases are among Hispanic or Latino gay and bisexual man, the same trend officials have seen in San Francisco.
A total of 39 monkeypox cases have been reported in Santa Clara County so far, and although the overall number remains small, 21 of those cases are among the Latino community.
In order to address the disproportionate impact, Dr. Cody said they are working with LGBTQ+ community organizations to reach the highest risk groups and connect them with available vaccinations.
Over 500 people have been vaccinated in the county in the past week and most of them were referred by organizations like Project More.
Dr. Cody made a point during the news briefing to expand on the fact that although a specific population is being impacted at the moment, anyone can get monkeypox.
"It really just is where do the infections start in a network. This just sort of reflects where the infection happened to start in a particular network and it will change," she said. "We saw this during COVID. It started in some communities and then moved to other communities."
Monkeypox vaccines started being offered at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds for the first time Wednesday by appointment only. Over the next two days, they expect to administer 230 doses.
County officials said the state will be sending another shipment of 700 doses, but don't have an exact date of arrival.
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