Some of the people most vulnerable to monkeypox may be getting overlooked for vaccines because of existing inequalities, LGBTQ+ communities have warned, while gay and bi men are having to rely on word-of-mouth to find out about walk-in clinics and appointment booking tools.
Londoners are queueing for hours for jabs based on clinic details shared on social media. The city is the epicentre of the disease outbreak, with 1,906 of the 2,759 confirmed UK cases – just under 70%. More than 99% of the confirmed cases have been in men, with those who have sex with men overwhelmingly the most affected.
But there are fears that people with disabilities and men who are not out as gay or bi could be left behind as they are not known to sexual health services, unable to queue for long periods, or afraid of being outed. Some who spoke to openDemocracy said the lottery of provision meant they had so far been unable to get the jab despite fitting the risk profile.
