On Friday Aug. 19, the San Francisco Department of Health (SFDPH) announced the city will receive 1,600 vials of the monkeypox vaccine in the next allotment.
In order for clinics to get this new allotment, it must use a transdermal injection technique, just below the skin layer, rather than the traditional subcutaneous method, injected into the dermal layer.
Latinos account for nearly 30 percent of monkeypox cases in the city and as of Aug. 23 there have been a total of 684 cases, according to the SFDPH website.
Dr. Eduardo Morales, executive director of AGUILAS and professor emeritus at Alliant International University, said monkeypox is spread by physical contact and seen mostly within men who have sex with other men.
“You can embrace somebody, you can kiss someone and the more intimate the contact, the more easily the person can get infected,” Morales said. “Part of the Latin culture is touch and embrace, it’s counterintuitive to help people respond culturally to each other.”
He said unlike coronavirus where it’s transmitted through air, monkeypox is caught through touch and the Latinx community has the highest percentage relative to what is expected.
“That’s an unfortunate situation for [Latinos] but we can do something about this and we must be careful at this time so we can enjoy the holidays,” Morales said.
Dr. Carina Marquez, associate professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, said the reason Latinos are mostly infected with monkeypox comes down to health care access.
“Whether it’s human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexual transmitted diseases, diabetes, a large portion of the Latino community in San Francisco do not have health insurance or regular primary care,” Marquez said.
She said access to health information in Spanish is important for the community.
“I think there’s always a delay and we can do better in terms of language concordance access,” Marquez said.
Marquez said Monkeypox has a variety of symptoms.
“Certainly the classic skin lesions and these lesions can be anywhere on the body but you can see them on the face,” Marquez said. “We are seeing a very large number of the lesions in the perirectal area, rectal area, which can be very painful. These lesions are also seen in the mouth or throat and make it difficult to swallow.”
She said the skin manifestations are preceded by fever, swollen glands and flu-like symptoms.
“It’s very debilitating. It’s very severe pain people are suffering and we want to be able to treat as many people who need treatment,” Marquez said.
Rafael Mandelman, District 8 supervisor and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, said the Latino community and particularly men should be aware of monkeypox and take steps to protect themselves.
“[People] should be thoughtful and be communicative with their partners, you know what’s going on with your body and people you may be having sex with,” Mandelman said.
He said it’s important for sex workers to get vaccinated and get the resources they need.
“I think it’s good that San Francisco on our own, not following guidance from the federal government, made sex workers a priority category for vaccination,” Mandelman said.
He said although monkeypox doesn’t kill people compared to diseases such as HIV, it’s still painful and can be permanently disfiguring for people.
“This is community health and we want to make sure that everybody who needs the vaccine gets it,” Marquez said. “Making [the vaccine] widely available low barrier access is going to be key, we shouldn’t be turning people away.”