Indiana will offer monkeypox vaccines to at-risk people. Here’s how to sign up

Updated 1 p.m. Aug. 12

The Indiana Department of Health is hosting monkeypox vaccination clinics for anyone who is at risk of exposure, including people who have been exposed to monkeypox and people who may be more likely to get it.

Indiana health officials said there will be 400 doses of the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine available at each of the following locations:

Allen County 

• No appointment necessary.
• 8 p.m. to midnight, Friday, Aug. 12  
• After Dark
  112 E. Masterson Ave., Fort Wayne

Marion County

• Registration required in advance. 
• 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 15
• You can register here by noon, Sunday, Aug. 14. (If you do not receive a message from the Marion County Public Health Department, you are not registered for the MCPHD’s Vaccine Clinic on Aug. 15.)
• Marion County Health Department
  4012 N. Rural St., Indianapolis

Tippecanoe County

• No appointment necessary.
• 9 p.m. to midnight, Friday, Aug. 12 
• Tippecanoe County Health Department
  1950 S. 18th St., Lafayette

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccination for people at risk of contracting monkeypox, including:

• people who are aware that one of their sexual partners in the past two weeks has been diagnosed with monkeypox
• people who had multiple sexual partners in the past two weeks in an area with known monkeypox cases
• people whose jobs expose them to the virus, like laboratory workers who perform testing for orthopoxviruses, those who handle cultures or animals with orthopoxviruses, as well as some designated health care or public health workers

The CDC recommends two doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine, spaced four to five weeks apart. It takes 14 days after the second dose for the vaccine to provide maximum immune protection, according to health officials.

IDOH recommends that people who get the vaccine continue to take precautions to protect themselves from infection. This includes using condoms or gloves and other safer sex practices and avoiding skin-to-skin contact with people who have monkeypox.

As of Aug. 10, the state of Indiana has received 6,752 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to the HHS website. Nearly 12,000 doses have been allocated to the state, out of about a million currently available. Federal health officials said they’re determining how to divvy up vaccines based on need and HHS is exploring ways to stretch the limited supply.

Anyone can register on the Health Department’s monkeypox website to be notified of future vaccine clinics in their area.

Health officials encourage anyone who is a close contact of a positive monkeypox case to work with their health care provider on treatment options.

UPDATE: This story was updated to include additional information provided by the Indiana Department of Health.

This story comes from a reporting collaboration that includes the Indianapolis Recorder and Side Effects Public Media, a public health news initiative based at WFYI. Contact Farah at fyousry@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @Farah_Yousrym.