California, Illinois declare monkeypox a health emergency

Democratic states California and Illinois declared a state of health emergency on Monday due to the monkeypox outbreak. Both California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker came to the same conclusion since both believe the crisis would help support the state’s vaccination efforts.

Governor J.B. Pritzker, in a statement, said: “[Monkeypox] is a rare, but potentially serious disease that requires the full mobilization of all available public health resources to prevent the spread. That’s why I am declaring a state of emergency to ensure smooth coordination between state agencies and all levels of government, thereby increasing our ability to prevent and treat the disease quickly.”

Governor Gavin Newsom also issued a statement regarding his state as well. “California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach,” Newsom said. “We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ Community fighting stigmatization.”

California and Illinois join New York as they are also addressing the outbreak at the state level. As of right now, there is a total of 5,811 cases of monkeypox nationwide, with over 1,390 of those cases being in New York City and another 827 in California, while the 520 is located in Illinois. So far, the California state government has administered about 25,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine and received around 61,000 doses.