The Division of Public Health says those with immunocompromised conditions are eligible to get the monkeypox vaccine starting Monday.
Interim DPH Director Rick Hong says pre existing conditions lead to longer recovery time and sometimes more lesions than usual. DPH originally focused on people with HIV or taking HIV prep, and anyone with “high risk” behaviors such as having multiple anonymous sex partners or sex work. But those without any preexisting conditions seem to fare well against the virus.
“For those folks that we are seeing that are positive and do not have immunocompromised conditions, they seem to be doing very well and the condition is self-limiting so they don’t need any antivirals, they really don’t need additional support, they basically do on their own," Hong said. "Those that are immunocompromised we see that they may have more severe symptoms specifically pain and actually may have more lesions as well.”
Delaware’s case count reached 25 this week, and Hong says it is unclear why Delaware’s count remains so low when surrounding states Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are all reporting more than 500.
“It’s really hard to explain why our numbers are not the same," Hong said. "Granted our size is smaller to begin with so that's always playing a role. We have capacity for testing, much of the testing is being done at our state public health lab. So it’s really not the inability to get tested. That should not be the reason why we are seeing low cases. So I don’t really have a reason why, it’s so hard to tell.”
Hong says they expect to receive more vaccines as needed and have been able to meet demand thus far.
Newark Urgent Care started administering monkeypox vaccines Thursday. Beebe Healthcare holds Friday and Saturday clinics that require an appointment, and DPH offers vaccines after a screening evaluation. DPH will continue to prioritize individuals at highest risk.
DPH will no longer make announcements solely based on case updates, but is launching a web portal at de.gov/PublicHealthAlerts that provides access to an updated monkeypox web page, and other pages on COVID-19 and flu.
