DC’s three monkeypox vaccination clinics will no longer require appointments and start serving as walk-up only centers as of Friday, September 23.
The announcement came from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health on Thursday.
Eligible residents will now be able to visit the clinics whether for their first or second dose of the monkeypox vaccine without pre-registration.
Those who have already received their initial dose after pre-registration will be emailed about their second shots, according to DC Health.
The Department will send a written reminder for the second dose to individuals who get vaccinated with the first dose from September 23 onwards.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that the second dose of the monkeypox vaccine be administered between 24 and 32 days after the first dose. But second doses received after 32 days are also considered effective.
Eligibility criteria for the monkeypox vaccine are as follows:
- All people, of any sexual orientation or gender, who have had multiple sexual partners in the past two weeks, including those currently considered highest risk: gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, transgender men, and transgender women; or
- Men who have sex with men who are non-monogamous (pre-exposure prophylaxis); or
- Sex workers (of any sexual orientation or gender); or
- Staff (of any sexual orientation or gender) at establishments where sexual activity occurs such as bathhouses, saunas, sex clubs.
- People of any sexual orientation or gender who:
- Are living with HIV/AIDS or have been diagnosed with any sexually transmitted infection in the past three months.
The three vaccinations in the District are located at 1900 I St NW (Ward 2), 7530 Georgia Ave NW (Ward 4), and 3640 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE (Ward 8).