The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has a limited supply of smallpox vaccine. The health unit will set up a monkey pox vaccine clinic on Sunday from 11am. until 4 p.m. at Windsor-Essex PrideFest, centered on Lanspeary Park. Acting Medical Officer of Health Shanker Nesathurai said the clinic would target high-risk individuals. “The term is sometimes described as ‘pre-exposure prophylaxis’ and will be offered at the Pride event this coming weekend,” Nesaturai said during a media briefing on Friday morning. Chief Nursing Officer Felicia Lawal said the health unit will partner with PrideFest and Pozitive Pathways to operate the mobile clinic. “Public health nurses will be available to provide information and health resources about monkeypox, as well as pre-exposure vaccination for those who meet the criteria and qualify,” said Lawal. Nesathurai said the health unit would have about a hundred doses available at the clinic and that the unit had distributed monkeypox vaccines in the past. The health unit also stressed that although the greatest risk group continues to be men who have sex with men, anyone can catch the virus, which can be transmitted through close contact. Nesathurai added that the PrideFest clinic will be the best way to raise awareness about the virus as much as possible, but the health unit is working to not stigmatize any segment of the population. So far, there has only been one confirmed case of smallpox in Windsor-Essex. Full information on smallpox and vaccines can be found on the official website of the health unit.
