Newark City partnered with a local nonprofit to host a monkeypox vaccine clinic.
The clinic delivered about 200 first doses on Tuesday. Newark partnered with the North Jersey Community Research Initiative for the clinic.
NJCRI is a clinic that also provides the COVID-19 vaccine.
“If there is an opportunity to protect ourselves from a situation like this … we will take the first opportunity possible,” says Anthony Madrid.
Madrid is from Matawan and drove to Newark for the clinic.
“This seems serious and we need to get ahead of it,” Madrid said.
Tuesday’s clinic was for people with known exposure to the virus, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people with compromised immune systems. It is also a way to stop the spread of
“We have people coming up and worrying, ‘Is this a rash on me? Is it monkeypox? We can help confirm or deny it.
Head Nurse Annie Pastor developed this free walk-up system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pastor said the pandemic has helped prepare the team to better tackle monkeypox.
“If there is a vaccine and there is a public health threat, the sooner we act, the more likely we are to prevent it from turning into an epidemic or pandemic,” said the pastor.
NJCRI has already distributed over 2,000 monkeypox vaccines. Shots are from states obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Like COVID-19, the monkeypox vaccine requires two doses. A person who was vaccinated against monkeypox about a month ago will get her second dose on Wednesday.
A second dose is guaranteed for those who receive the first dose of the vaccine.