CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Mecklenburg County Public Health will be administering monkeypox vaccines this weekend at Charlotte Pride events, thanks to a program from the White House and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The program offers additional monkeypox vaccines to states hosting large LGBTQIA+ events.
Federal partners worked with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) and Mecklenburg County Public Health to develop a plan to administer the vaccines during the events in Charlotte.
According to NCDHHS, anyone can get monkeypox, but right now, nearly all cases are among men who have sex with men. Currently, Mecklenburg County has 25 or more monkeypox cases, the most of any North Carolina county.
The doses provided for Charlotte Pride events are in addition to the more than 18,000 doses North Carolina has received through its existing allocations.
The federal pilot program is setting aside 50,000 doses of vaccine from the Strategic National Stockpile that states can request to order on top of their existing vaccine allocations and supply.
To make it easier to get a monkeypox vaccine, Mecklenburg County Public Health will be distributing vaccines on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at partner events surrounding Pride weekend, and on Saturday and Sunday afternoons during the Charlotte Pride festival.
For the latest information on monkeypox in Mecklenburg County, click here.
