Washington now has a lot more monkeypox vaccine on hand

Washington state has not had enough vaccines for all the people at high risk of the monkeypox virus, also called MPV. Now, several thousand more doses are on hand with more coming soon. That means more clinics now have the vaccine for those most at risk.

Washington state has roughly 213 confirmed cases of MPV, and 85% of those cases are in King County. Most of the cases have been confirmed via Dr. Matthew Golden’s clinic — the only place that had vaccines back in late July.

"The number of clinical sites that can treat people has grown quite a bit and now includes Kaiser Permanente, Swedish, Poly Clinic, Evergreen, several other UW sites," Dr. Golden said. "And we expect additional clinical sites to be able to treat patients in the weeks to come."

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington was among 19 states that requested less than a full share of vaccine available to it in July — less than 50%. But Jess Nelson, the public information officer for the Washington State Department of Health, said those figures are misleading.

"The data used in that story was pulled on July 22, and only included Washington’s Phase 1 and Phase 2A orders of 3,550 doses," Nelson explained. As of July 25, the Department of Health ordered 3,660 more doses, and they arrived in the state and were distributed.

The state is operating under a kind of triage, reserving the limited doses for those most at risk, a strategy that has been utilized to help promote equitable vaccine access.

"We know that first-come, first-served approaches aren’t always the most equitable and don’t always reach those at highest risk of recent exposure,” Sharon Bogan with Public Health Seattle & King County said in late July.

With the latest shipment of vaccines, doses have been sent to Whatcom, Skagit, Island, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties. More have also arrived in King County, where the majority of cases are located.

To date, Washington has been allocated more than 17,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine, but it is able to order only 40% of that amount or 6,900 doses, Nelson said. The state will be able to order an additional 5,180 doses on Aug. 15.

The Department of Health is encouraging all those in the high-risk group to get vaccinated. This includes, but is not limited to, men who have sex with men.

Vaccination is not currently recommended for members of the general public who are not at high risk of recent exposure to monkeypox. The vaccine for monkeypox is the same for smallpox and is 85% effective. It is administered in two doses, 28 days apart.