PHILADELPHIA—The Health Department announced that eight organizations have been awarded funding under the Health Department’s recently announced Promoting Equity and Expansion of Monkeypox Vaccination Services funding opportunity. Awardees were notified on October 27, 2022. Funding was awarded across three tracks (1. monkeypox vaccination services, 2. collaboration to support monkeypox vaccination services, and 3. community engagement for monkeypox vaccination) to the following organizations:
Track 1:
- Bebashi Transition for Hope
- Courage Medicine
- Drexel Medicine
- Mazzoni Center
- Philadelphia FIGHT
- (Note that It Takes Philly/the Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity was funded for Track 1 activities through a separate funding mechanism)
Track 2:
- Galaei/Urban Affairs Coalition
Track 3:
- COLOURS Organization/Urban Affairs Coalition
- Prevention Meets Fashion
The funding opportunity was designed to promote equitable access to vaccine, as well as to ensure that accurate and timely information is available to people who are at high risk for monkeypox, particularly those who may be difficult to reach through traditional and social media. More than half of those diagnosed with monkeypox have reported their race as Black, while only 27% of vaccine doses have been administered to Black Philadelphians.
As of October 26, 2022, there have been 532 cases of monkeypox identified in Philadelphia. The number of new cases per week has been dropping since the first week of August, and only a handful of cases are being diagnosed per week recently. Most cases are Black (61%), cisgender male (76%, with 17% listed as unknown), and between the ages of 30 and 39 (42%). Most vaccines have been administered to Whites (52%), males (91%), and those between the ages of 30 and 39 (38%).
Residents who are interested in finding out more about monkeypox are encouraged to visit the Health Department’s Philly Keep on Loving page on the virus here: https://phillykeeponloving.com/monkeypox/. Information on free and low-cost testing and vaccinations, including walk-up appointments, can be found there.
For more information on monkeypox and the City’s response to it, visit the Health Department’s monkeypox website here: https://www.phila.gov/programs/monkeypox/.