BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) is now offering free and confidential monkeypox vaccines to eligible Erie County residents at their homes or any location in Erie County through its Vax Visit program.
To schedule an appointment, residents are asked to call (716) 858-2929, select option 2 and provide their name and phone number.
They will receive a call back to schedule an appointment at their home or another Erie County location.
ECDOH also offers monkeypox vaccines at the Jesse Nash Health Center at 608 William Street, Buffalo, 14206. No appointment is needed.
The center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., except for county holidays.
Current eligibility criteria before exposure to monkeypox include:
- Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, transgender or nonbinary people who in the past 6 months have had:
- A new diagnosis of one or more nationally reportable sexually transmitted diseases (i.e., acute HIV, chancroid, chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis)
- More than one sex partner
- People who have had any of the following in the past 6 months:
- Sex at a commercial sex venue
- Sex in association with a large public event in a geographic area where monkeypox transmission is occurring
- Sexual partners of people with the above risks
- People who anticipate experiencing the above risks
- People in certain occupational exposure risk groups
First and second monkeypox vaccine doses are available through this program.
The Vax Visit program is part of ECDOH’s monkeypox vaccine outreach campaign, which began in July in coordination with Evergreen Health, MOCHA Buffalo, the Pride Center of WNY, Upstate NY Black and Latino Pride, and GLYS WNY.
