MARCH AGAINST MONKEYPOX AND GOVERNMENT FAILURE

Start: Thursday, July 21, 2022 6:00 PM

EMERGENCY ACTION: MARCH AGAINST MONKEYPOX AND GOVERNMENT FAILURE

DATE: Thurs, July 21
TIME: 6:00 PM ET
LOCATION: Foley Square, NYC (4/5/6 trains to Brooklyn Bridge City Hall or R train to City Hall)

The latest monkeypox outbreak didn't need to happen. Our communities are suffering because of federal government failures. Join us for a march and rally demanding better from the Biden administration and our public health departments.

WE DEMAND: More testing. More vaccines. More treatment.

The protest is being organized by ACT UP NY, PrEP4All, VOCAL-NY, Callen-Lorde, Housing Works, Treatment Action Group (TAG), Rise and Resist, Middle Collegiate Church, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club along with a collaboration of queer leaders and activists. The coalition of advocates are meeting in front of the US Department of Health and Human Services office to demand a robust response to the ongoing outbreak of monkeypox (MPX) impacting our community.

As you may be aware, there is an ongoing outbreak of monkeypox (MPX) disproportionately affecting the LGBTQIA+ community, with cases rising exponentially as the virus rapidly spreads with an extensive incubation period.

This outbreak could have been avoided, and the window of opportunity is quickly closing to contain this disease. The scientific community has already developed vaccines, treatment, and testing for monkeypox (MPX) - the tools exist, but are insufficiently available due to government failure and negligence. There is still time to stop monkeypox (MPX) from spreading across the country, but doing so will require robust government action. We demand more testing, we demand more vaccines, and we demand treatment.

The Problem:

MPX can have horrendous symptoms including fever, fatigue, aches, chills, and most prominently extremely painful pustule blisters all over the body, including genitals, the face, and even eyes. The symptoms can last over a month and one stops being contagious only after the last blister completely heals.

The problem is that despite the federal government having access to millions of doses of a working vaccine (which not only can prevent transmission, but also alleviate symptoms), red tape and negligence are preventing immediate dissemination of the vaccine to those exposed. Additionally, those who clinically meet the criteria for available antiretroviral treatments are being routinely denied access. Finally, the method of vaccine disseminbations have not been racially or demographiucally equitable leaving out thousands of the most vulnerable Frankly put, the government is failing the queer community, sacrificing our health for bureaucratic instransigence and needlessly putting the entire nation at risk for yet another terrible disease.

History has taught us all too well that when it comes to queer heatlh, SILENCE = DEATH.

The time has come for us to organize, stand up, speak out, and demand better.


ORGANIZATIONS:


• ACT UP NY
• PrEP4All
• VOCAL-NY
• Callen-Lorde
• Housing Works
• Treatment Action Group (TAG)
• Rise and Resist
• Middle Collegiate Church
• Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club


STATE DEMANDS:

  1. An emergency safety net fund for people who test positive for MPX and have to take off work to quarantine.

  2. An increase in accessibility to vaccine appointment including:

  • Time slots made available outside traditional work hours

  • Ensuring walk-in appointment options.

  1. Ensuring that all communities are included in vaccine deployment and community outreach (i.e. sex workers, women, trans and nonbinary people).

  2. Meaningful outreach to vulnerable communities (i.e people in prisons, people experiencing street homelessness, people involved in the sex trades, and people who use drugs) including public health educational campaigns in all languages and ensuring universal access to information.

  3. Designate a stockpile of vaccines for people with known exposures to MPX.

  4. Provide hotel rooms for those who do not have a medically appropriate place to quarantine including people experiencing homelessness (i.e. on the streets and congregate shelters).

  5. Adequate staff capacity for in-person vaccine sites to ensure vaccines get into bodies quickly and safely.

  6. Streamlined communication efforts that meet the needs and demands of the community.



FEDERAL DEMANDS ON TESTING:


  1. The Centers for Disease Control & the U.S. government have yet to launch large-scale provider- and patient-oriented information campaigns about when and how to order monkeypox testing, causing confusion, delays, and refusals of tests to symptomatic individuals. The federal government must invest in communication about monkeypox testing, treatment, and vaccine availability now.

  2. Labcorp has stated that it will not be sharing detailed data on where these tests were conducted, in which populations (race, gender, sexual orientation/risk factor). These detailed demographic data must be routinely reported by LabCorp and other commercial laboratories.

  3. Labcorp has it will bill for tests, including un- and underinsured people. This is unacceptable. The US government, state and local governments must ensure that monkeypox testing is covered for all people, and that no un- or underinsured individuals will receive a bill for this test.


FEDERAL DEMANDS ON VACCINES:  


  1. The US FDA must by July 15 certify or recognize the EMA’s certification of the Bavarian Nordic facility, with dose transport initiated the same day. A flight from Copenhagen to New York takes less than 8 hours.

  2. The US government must by July 31 share a plan for turning 15.2 million Bavarian Nordic doses of raw vaccine substance into vaccination-ready vials.

  3. The US government should proactively and transparently revise its need estimates to anticipate spread beyond MSM and transgender communities, including spread in cis women at risk of and living with HIV and in incarcerated populations.


FEDERAL DEMANDS ON TREATMENT:


  1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must rescind its Investigational New Drug requirement to release TPOXX from the national stockpile.

  2. The Food and Drug Administration recognize that its TPOXX approval is based on monkeypox data and authorizes TPOXX for monkeypox through the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process, thereby allowing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rescind its Investigational New Drug requirement to release TPOXX from the national stockpile.


Event by
Jason Rosenberg
Brooklyn , New York