Washington.
And Arizona state university.
Judy: The world health
organization declared monkeypox
a global health emergency this
weekend.
The number of confirmed cases is
very small, totaling under
20,000 so far, it has spread
quickly to dozens of countries
in less than three months.
Some argue the alert from the
who is necessary because the
response in many countries has
been to slow including the U.S.
We focus on that tonight.
Reporter: Vaccinations against
the monkeypox are picking up in
the U.S. But access and speed of
delivery remain issues.
In some cases people exposed
have struggled to get the
vaccine and other patients with
the virus cannot get the drug
which helps with symptoms.
We spoke to a few people from
New York, Los Angeles and
Baltimore about their issues
getting the vaccine or treatment
and this is what they shared.
>> I noticed a blister on my
finger that I thought was just
an insect bite at first.
Eventually, another blister
showed up on my body and that
was when I knew it was not just
an insect bite.
>> I called my provider and they
asked me to send some pictures
of the lay-ins -- some legions.
>> On Friday in June I got a
call from my friend who I'd been
hanging with the weekend prior.
>> I was exposed to someone with
monkeypox at the end of June.
I have not gotten the vaccine.
And not without trying.
I was lucky enough that I did
not develop monkeypox but I was
scared out of my mind and really
wanted the vaccine.
>> They sent a prescription
for the antiviral to my regular
pharmacy and my pharmacy called
and said, they have no way to
get that.
Finally, a got a call from a
different pharmacy saying they
had it and they were the only
pharmacy in New York that did
and so they were able to deliver
it to my apartment thankfully.
>> For about 5-7 days it felt
like I had crazy abdominal
cramps constantly.
I struggled to have bowel
movements.
It was really, really horrible.
And then taking care of these
legions -- lesions all
over my body.
>> It is really frustrating.
There is a way this experience
could have been less painful and
quicker.
>> I was worried, afraid, and in
pain.
I was not sure how I was going
to get this medicine that was
supposed to help.
>> I showed up to this public
school and realized there were a
lot of men hanging around
outside the public school
looking very frustrated.
When I came there they said --
it is closed and no one is
there.
We were all outside.
We all lost our appointments.
>> I don't think our medical
system was prepared for an
outbreak of this nature.
What is the best medically
recommended way to get these
lesions to heal as fast as
possible?
Should I keep them covered?
Open to air at home?
There has been no guidance and
that is hard for people that
have this infection which is
really scary.
>> Our community is being hit
the hardest right now.
It is not limited to us.
We should be realistic in who it
is affecting so we can target
treatment and preventative
measures.
Reporter: There are just under
3000 confirmed cases in the U.S.
But many experts believe there
are other cases that have not
been confirmed yet with testing.
A lack of testing is just one
part of the overall response
from the Biden administration
that has come under criticism.
Greg is a key public health boys
making that case publicly.
He is an epidemiologist and a
well-known global activist.
Professor Gonzalez, thank you
for joining us.
We just heard from those folks
and I want to get some context
on this.
They had trouble accessing
treatment and the vaccine.
Others told us they were
misdiagnosed in the first case.
How rare are their stories?
>> I think this is
characteristic of what has
happened and the last two months
in the context of the monkeypox
outbreak in the United States.
I have heard similar stories
from people having trouble
getting tested and getting
access to the vaccine and
trouble finding access to
treatment even though we have
all of these commodities that
you should be able -- that
should be able to contain the
outbreak and treat the
individuals that need help.
Reporter: The numbers -- about
3000 cases.
A lot of people look at that and
say, it does not down like that
much but you have called it a
crisis.
Why?
>> May 2022 -- we have gone from
no cases to over 3000 in the
U.S.
We went from zero to 18,000
around the world in a matter of
time going from a small series
of countries in western central
Africa where the disease has
been a pandemic.
Reporter: The Biden
administration has said -- this
is what we are doing.
We have shipped over hundred
thousand vaccine doses across
the country -- 300,000 vaccine
doses across the country.
You have called the response a
mess.
What could they do today that
they have not?
>> The point is they have moved
incredibly slowly.
Early criticisms that the
testing for monkeypox was being
too tightly controlled by the
state health departments and the
CDC.
A couple weeks ago, the federal
government gave commercial to
large commercial diagnostic
providers to ramp up testing but
it is creating a bottleneck in
the system.
The drug that can treat the
infection is available under
very strict scrutiny by the fda
and federal government in which
the doctors have to do several
hours of paperwork to get the
drug for one patient.
And then there is the vaccine.
There is one.
It is available to prevent this
infection.
We have the largest stockpile of
this vaccine in the world and
yet we have only been able to
distribute about 140,000 doses
in the last few months.
There are 200,000 doses sitting
in a warehouse in Denmark.
It is unclear the administration
knows what it is doing in terms
of coordination.
There is enormous physical pain
these men are experiencing and
they are going into the hospital
to be treated for this and
coming out with hospital bills
that strain their finances.
This should have been set up and
staged 6-8 weeks ago in the
beginning of June.
Now we are hearing, we will have
enough vaccine by Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving?
The big thing here is that we
could have contained the
outbreak and stop it in its
tracks.
Now there is a chance of it
becoming endemic.
We may be looking at living with
monkeypox for a long time to
come and not just in the gay
community.
It's bills over into other
communities.
We may be dealing with this on a
much larger societal scale.
Reporter: What we have seen so
far it -- is it has been mostly
limited to the gay, bisexual,
and transgender community.
Some say it is like HIV all over
again.
It is being ignored because it
is largely impacting only
certain communities.
Is that what you see?
>> It is very hard to not think
here we go again.
It is unacceptable that a
disease that could have been
stopped in its tracks when we
knew about it in may and early
June is now heading towards
several thousand more cases.
Reporter: A lot of your
criticism sounds like you could
have been talking about covid
and the government responds
early in the pandemic.
Are those lessons we should have
learned?
>> Indeed we should have but it
was clear there were fundamental
weaknesses in the public health
system prior to covid.
We expect the system to act like
a ferrari out of the showroom.
Instead of a fractured used car.
We have a fractured and tattered
social safety net in this
country.
We came into the covid pandemic
unprepared for what happened.
You would have thought we would
have fixed these things by 2022.
Now, we see a new pandemic in
the U.S. And all the mistakes
that happened in 2020, all the
deficiencies in our public
health care system are out on
full display once again and one
has to wonder when we will learn
our lesson.
Reporter: That is Greg Gonzalez
from Yale school.
Professor, thank you for your
time.