Mecklenburg County is seeing an increase in the number of confirmed cases of monkeypox. Sixty cases have been confirmed as of Monday — a jump from 48 last week.
Monkeypox is a potentially serious viral illness that usually involves flu-like symptoms, swelling of the lymph nodes and a rash. It’s typically spread by skin-to-skin contact, including intimate contact such as during sex.
The county received an additional 2,000 doses of the vaccine last week.
Mecklenburg County Health Director Dr. Raynard Washington says he expects all of those doses to be used by the end of this week.
"Folks are having to wait roughly anywhere between 5 to 7 days, but it varies based on when you get on the list and how responsive you are to our outreach," Washington told reporters. "If you are on a waitlist, I encourage you to keep a watch out on your email because we will send you an email that lets you know when you are available to be vaccinated. Or if you haven’t responded to email we will call you at some point."
Demand for the vaccine is higher than supply. Currently, there are about 2,200 people on the waitlist.
So far, 1,217 shots of the vaccine have been administered in Mecklenburg.
