The clinic will take place at Evergreen Health located at 320 Prather Avenue.

The vaccine is given in a two dose series, 28-35 days apart. As such, a second dose vaccine clinic will be scheduled for Wednesday, November 16, 2022. Individuals are considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of vaccine.

Public Health Director Christine Schuyler said while there are no confirmed cases of monkeypox in Chautauqua County yet, there have been over 3,800 confirmed cases in New York State.

Chautauqua County residents must meet current eligibility criteria set by New York State in order to register for an appointment. Vaccine clinic attendees do not need to be Evergreen Health patients in order to receive vaccine. Attendees must be at least 18 years old and are asked to bring photo ID. Face masks will be required.

Eligible individuals can register here: https://bit.ly/MonkeyPoxCHQ

According to the NYSDOH, those eligible for monkeypox vaccine at this clinic include:

• Individuals with recent monkeypox exposure to a suspected or confirmed case of monkeypox in the past 14 days.
• Those at high risk of a recent exposure to monkeypox, including members of the gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming community and other communities of men who have sex with men and who have engaged in intimate or skin-to-skin contact with others in the past 14 days in areas where monkeypox is spreading.
• Individuals who have had skin-to-skin contact with someone in a social network experiencing monkeypox activity, including men who have sex with men who meet partners through an online website, digital application (“app”), or social event, such as a bar or party.
• Any individual that may be at risk of future exposure to infection with monkeypox, even though they are not at high risk of a recent exposure to monkeypox.

The Health Department strongly encourages anyone with symptoms consistent with monkeypox, especially lesions or a characteristic rash among individuals at risk of monkeypox, to be assessed by their health care provider.

For more information on monkeypox, please visit https://health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/zoonoses/monkeypox/

Monkeypox Information Provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a State Disaster Emergency in response to the ongoing monkeypox outbreak.

The Executive Order enables the state to respond more swiftly to the outbreak and allows health care professionals to take additional steps that will help get more New Yorkers vaccinated.

Hochul said in a news release that, “More than one in four monkeypox cases in this country are in New York State, and we need to utilize every tool in our arsenal as we respond.”

The Executive Order specifically extends the pool of eligible individuals who can administer monkeypox vaccines, including EMS personnel, pharmacists and midwives; allows physicians and certified nurse practitioners to issue non patient specific standing orders for vaccines; and requires providers to send vaccine data to the New York State Department of Health.

The announcement Friday builds on the state’s ongoing response efforts on monkeypox, including efforts to secure more vaccines, expand testing capacity, and distribute the latest information and resources to New Yorkers. Last Thursday, Hochul announced that the federal government had secured an additional 110,000 vaccine doses, resulting in a total of 170,000 doses to New Yorkers to date.

He stated there is not a case of polio in Chautauqua County.

Chautauqua County Health Department staff had sent out information to team members in county government about a case found in Rockland County, New York as a heads-up.

The case in Rockland County was the first recorded case of polio in the United States in nearly a decade.

Polio is a viral disease that can affect the nervous system and cause muscle weakness.

County Executive PJ Wendel, in his monthly interview with WRFA, did say vaccinations had eradicated a lot of diseases in the past like polio, “There are some who argue about the detriment of vaccines, but it’s been proven that vaccines have saved lives and vaccines have been effective in treating many, many illnesses. So, unfortunately, we’ll evaluate the situation, how this person contracted polio, but it’s a concern. These types of diseases are brought about by Mother Nature and she’s a pretty tough cookie. She doesn’t always let things rest.”

On the topic of the new Monkeypox virus, Wendel said that virus is not anywhere near as prevalent or easy to spread as COVID-19 but urges those with rashes or lesions they’re concerned about to contact their healthcare providers for treatment.

Federal officials announced Thursday that New York State is receiving more doses of Monkeypox vaccine.

Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement saying, “I am grateful to President Biden and other Administration officials for their help in securing an additional 110,000 monkeypox vaccine doses – approximately 80,000 to New York City and 30,000 to the rest of New York State – which will be delivered over the next four to six weeks and allow us to continue to respond to this troubling outbreak. This builds on the more than 60,000 monkeypox doses that New York City and New York State have received to date due to our ongoing coordination with the federal government.”

In regards to COVID-19, the Chautauqua County Health Department’s weekly update reported the county’s 7-day average positivity rate is now 15.2% with the CDC Community Level raised to moderate. Three people are currently hospitalized in Chautauqua County due to COVID.

Under the moderate community level, the CDC recommends people wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. They also recommend wearing a mask on public transportation.

Monkeypox Information Provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The World Health Organization has declared a global emergency over the monkeypox outbreak.

Reueters reports the declaration is designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funding to collaborate on sharing vaccines and treatments.

WHO officials said monkeypox, which spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions, was moderate globally, except in Europe, where the WHO has deemed the risk as high.

So far this year, there have been more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox in more than 75 countries, and five deaths in Africa.

In New York State, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York State Department of Health has reviewed and approved Quest Diagnostics’ recent application for testing to identify Monkeypox in the state. The testing, which uses real-time PCR technology to test samples from individuals who are presenting with vesicular rashes or pustules, will further expand New York State’s ample testing capacity and give providers another option when it comes to labs that can process samples and detect Monkeypox virus.

The expanded testing capacity builds on the State Department of Health’s ongoing response efforts on monkeypox, which included recently launching a new SMS-text notification effort to deliver the latest monkeypox information directly to New Yorkers. New Yorkers can sign up for text messages—which will include alerts about cases, symptoms, spread, and resources for testing and vaccination—by texting “MONKEYPOX” to 81336 or “MONKEYPOXESP” for texts in Spanish. By providing a zip code, New Yorkers can also opt-in for location-based messages.

Due to New York State’s ongoing coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s Monkeypox Response Team, New York State has secured more than 60,000 doses to date.

For more information about monkeypox, visit health.ny.gov/monkeypox.