United States: In 2022, a virus called mpox (which was formerly known as monkeypox) spread in the America and also making over about 32,000 people sick which ultimately caused like almost 58 deaths. To protect people, a vaccine which is named as Jynneos was made available for people, mainly for gay and bisexual men who were most at risk.
New information shows which people in the LGBTQ+ community were most likely to get vaccinated against mpox.
New Jersey and New York-based LGBTQ+ adults were surveyed by Rutgers University on whether they got the Jynneos shot.
When asked 9 out of 10 (90.9%) of the men indicated that they had taken at least one dose of the vaccine or planning to take it.
As reported by the HealthDay, among participants who identified as gay, that number was 95.1%, according to the study, published recently in the Community Health Health.
Hypothesis 4 of the study therefore predicted that; Income and employment status seemed to matter. For instance, about 81.7% of those who confirmed they had or currently engage in full-time employment exercised or intended to take the mpox vaccine.
Another important factor: HIV status. While there has been a comparatively higher intention for those who were HIV-positive to go get the Jynneos shot than those who were HIV-negative.
HIV-positive patients, of course, remain closely connected to healthcare facilities, suggested Kristen Krause, the author of the work, and an assistant professor of public health at Rutgers.
“So, if you are already engaged in care, it is often a little bit less challenging to acquire [vaccines],” Krause said in a statement to Rutgers University.
That wasn’t true for everyone: Just over half of the people surveyed complained that it was “somewhat or very challenging” to get an mpox vaccination appointment.
Many of the stories that we would hear here in the city were implying that even if appointments were offered, they were not necessarily easy to come by or if one was offered, they quickly got booked,” said Krause who also assists in directing Rutgers Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies.
Moreover, people did not quite know where to turn,” she said, and many vaccines were available “only during working hours, which was inconvenient, to say the least for some.”