L.A. County to expand monkeypox vaccines to select high-risk groups

Los Angeles County health officials announced Thursday that select residents at heightened risk of monkeypox can obtain vaccines on an appointment or walkup basis if they meet certain criteria — and if the shots are available.

The county this week expanded access to the JYNNEOS vaccine, but it was still limited only to people who were specifically contacted by the Department of Public Health.

On Thursday, however, health officials said eligible residents who meet a select criteria can obtain a vaccine with a referral from a health care provider or through a self-referral to a vaccine clinic.

Those referrals are available for gay and bisexual men and transgender people with a diagnosis of rectal gonorrhea or early syphilis within the past three months.

People meeting that criteria should check to see if their health-care provider can administer the vaccine.

Qualified people who do not have a health-care provider — or whose provider does not carry the vaccine — can either make an appointment at a designated vaccine clinic or visit a walk-in location. To get vaccinated, they must have either:

• proof of a verifiable medical test result within the last three months; or

• an attestation from a medical provider confirming the person has a history of rectal gonorrhea or early syphilis from the past three months.

A list of monkeypox vaccine locations is available at tinyurl.com/ LACMonkeyPox.

As of Thursday, there were 82 presumed and confirmed cases of monkeypox in the county, up from 60 on Monday.

Health officials have insisted the risk of infection in the general population remains extremely low.

Initially monkeypox vaccines were being offered only to residents who had confirmed contact with an existing case or who attended an event where there was a high risk of exposure.

On Monday, that eligibility expanded to include:

• gay and bisexual men and transgender women who are patients of a sexual health clinic and have a diagnosis of rectal gonorrhea or early syphilis within the past three months; and

• a limited number of high-risk individuals identified by clinical staff at Men's Central Jail.

At that time, however, the shots were only being offered to people who were specifically contacted by the county.

Vaccine supplies remain limited, and county officials said eligibility will expand as more doses become available. The vaccine is also a two-shot regimen, so additional supplies will be used to provide second doses to those who received the initial shot.

Health officials said the infection spreads through contact with bodily fluids, monkeypox sores or shared items such as bedding or clothing that were contaminated with fluids.

It can also be transmitted through saliva and sexual contact.

A transient who lived in various locations in the San Fernando Valley has been sentenced to 11 years, four months in federal prison for a two-week crime spree in which he robbed five U.S. Postal Service employees — and fired a handgun so close to one victim that it caused him to suffer a ruptured eardrum, the Department of Justice said.

Elvyn Antonio Rodriguez, 22, a Nicaraguan national illegally residing in the United States, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who also ordered him to pay $2,825 in restitution to the USPS and two mail carriers.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty in March in downtown Los Angeles to three counts of robbery of mail and property of the United States and one count of aggravated identity theft.

In April and May of last year, Rodriguez robbed five USPS employees in Encino, North Hills, Van Nuys and West Los Angeles, pointing a firearm at them and stealing their personal belongings, including their cellphones, credit cards and the keys to their USPS trucks.

Rodriguez then used the victims' credit cards at retailers, where he purchased various items including clothing, BB guns, a watch, a glass pipe and gasoline.