Monkeypox vaccine to be offered through Fulton County nonprofit

ATLANTA - A Fulton County non-profit is helping to step up the distribution of monkeypox vaccines.

A Vision 4 Hope will begin offering 200 appointments per week beginning on Friday, August 12. Testing and vaccinations are available by appointment only.

The appointments are from noon until 6 p.m. at A Vision 4 Hope located at 1800 Phoenix Blvd, in College Park.

Those interested can call between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to get an appointment. The number is 678-705-3814.

Insurance is accepted for testing lab fees. Sliding scale is available for the uninsured.  Vaccines are free but currently only available to high-risk populations - men who have sex with men, transwomen and sex workers.

AV4H, a safe haven for members of the LGBTQ community, also offers co-located job training, housing, counseling, mobile HIV prevention and testing, COVID testing and vaccines.

MONKEYPOX: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AS U.S. DECLARES PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevent said as of Thursday, Georgia is now the ranked fourth in total number of monkeypox and orthopoxvirus cases at just over 800. Nearly 11,000 cases have been reported nationwide.

Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body.

A vile of Monkeypox virus vaccine at St. John's Well Child & Family Center on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The disease can be spread through close, personal, skin-to-skin contact including direct contact with rashes or sores, contact with objects or fabric that have been used by someone with monkeypox, or respiratory droplets or oral fluids.

There have been no U.S. deaths and officials say the risk to the American public is low. But they are taking steps to assure people that medical measures are in place to deal with the growing problem.

GEORGIA HEALTH OFFICIALS ADDRESS CONFUSION OVER MONKEYPOX TESTING

A two-dose vaccine, Jynneos, is approved for monkeypox in the U.S. The government has many more doses of an older smallpox vaccine — ACAM2000 — that they say could also be used, but that vaccine is considered to have a greater risk of side effects and is not recommended for people who have HIV. So it’s the Jynneos vaccine that officials have been trying to use as a primary weapon against the monkeypox outbreak.

Anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox should talk to their healthcare provider, even if you do not believe you have had contact with anyone who has contracted the virus.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.