WISCONSIN — The Wisconsin Department of Health Services expanded eligibility criteria for the monkeypox vaccine following updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What You Need To Know

  • The monkeypox vaccine is available at approximately 80 locations throughout the state

  • As of Oct. 5, the state has reported 81 cases

  • DHS said monkeypox cases continue to decline, however, vaccination rates for the virus remain significantly lower in certain groups

The monkeypox vaccine is available at approximately 80 locations throughout the state. As of Oct. 5, the state has reported 81 cases. 

The updated eligibility criteria is as follows (the bullets in bold are the latest additions):

  • Known contacts who are identified by public health through case investigation, contact tracing and risk exposure assessments
  • Presumed contacts who may meet the following criteria:
    • People who know that a sexual partner in the past 14 days was diagnosed with monkeypox
  • People considered having elevated risk of exposure to monkeypox in the future:
    • Gay men, bisexual men, trans men and women, any men who have sex with men, and gender non-conforming/non-binary individuals who:
      • Have recently had multiple or anonymous sex partners. This may include people living with HIV and people who take HIV pre-exposure because of increased risk of sexually transmitted infections
      • Have new diagnosis of one or more nationally reportable sexually transmitted diseases (for example, acute HIV, chancroid, chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis)
  • People who attended or had sex at a commercial sex venue or an event or venue where there was known monkeypox transmission or exposure
    • Sexual partners of people with the above risks
    • People who anticipate experiencing the above risks
  • People in certain occupational exposure risk groups:
    • Clinical laboratory personnel who perform testing to diagnose orthopoxviruses, including those who use polymerase chain reaction assays for diagnosis of orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox virus
    • Research laboratory workers who directly handle cultures or animals contaminated or infected with orthopoxviruses that infect humans, including monkeypox virus, replication-competent Vaccinia virus, or recombinant Vaccinia viruses derived from replication-competent Vaccinia virus strains. Laboratory staff working with lesion swabs that may contain orthopoxviruses. This includes staff that handle swabs of lesions from suspect monkeypox cases or test for things other than orthopoxviruses, including Varicella zoster virus or Herpes virus. This also includes microbiologists that do standard bacterial cultures from these lesion swabs.
    • Certain health care providers working in sexual health clinics or other specialty settings directly caring for patients with sexually transmitted infections

“People who are eligible for the monkeypox vaccine should make an appointment to get their vaccine as soon as possible to protect their health,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard. “Early data show that receiving at least one dose of the monkeypox vaccine provides some level of protection against the disease. This is encouraging news, but it is important for people to get both doses for maximum protection.”

DHS said monkeypox cases continue to decline, however, vaccination rates for the virus remain significantly lower in certain groups. 

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