Monkeypox vaccine clinic reopens in SF to hundreds waiting in line
"I got myself here at about 5:30a.m. and I was the 123rd person in line."
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Zuckerberg San Francisco General reopened its monkeypox vaccine clinic on Monday and the line stretched multiple blocks. The first people got in line around 4:30 a.m. and the clinic didn't open till 8:00 a.m.
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"I got myself here at about 5:30a.m. and I was the 123rd person in line," said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who received a dose on Monday. "Bring a folding chair or something because you're going to be standing for an hour or two or longer."
San Francisco declared a state of emergency to allocate more resources to the getting people vaccinated. However, they say they need more help from the federal government.
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"We are at the epicenter of the monkeypox epidemic right now," said Dr. Susan Ehrlich, CEO of Zuckerberg SF General. "We have about half the cases in California, so it is right we get the vaccine. I just wish we had more so we can serve the community better."
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San Francisco originally asked for 35,000 doses of the vaccine. Supervisor Mandelman says they may need more. He says one lab is producing the vaccines right now, and they need a better response from the federal government to get more vaccines distributed.
"We asked for 35,000 doses from a start two or three weeks ago," Mandelman said. "We have received a total of twelve thousand doses. We think we need more like 70,000 doses, so we are way short."
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