Urging Gov & Mayor to Make MPV Demographic Vaccination Data Public

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Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Hon. Governor Kathy Hochul
New York State Capitol Building
New York, NY 10007

Hon. Mayor Eric Adams
City Hall Park
New York, New York 10007

RE: Make Monkeypox (MPV) Demographic Vaccination Data Public and Help Promote an Equitable Lens in Addressing The Public Health Emergency  
Dear Governor Hochul & Mayor Adams,

Equality New York, The LGBT Community Center, & The New Pride Agenda are urging your offices to support making MPV vaccine demographic and distribution data available to the public. This is a critical step toward ensuring that LGBTQI community members across New York State are able to organize around, and support community needs in an equitable manner. 

As of today, the highest rates of MPV-related diagnoses have been reported among men who have sex with men (MSM) and who identify as Latinx or Black. However, anecdotally, we are seeing those who identify as MSM and White have a disproportionately high level of access to the small number of available vaccines. Providing critical, life sustaining and emergency support for those who are most impacted is our shared goal, and to that end we believe that providing accurate data to the public can help to address areas where sufficient and equitable access to the MPV vaccine is not happening. 

Last week, the LGBTQIA+ Caucus of the New York City Council introduced a legislative package that is, in part, aimed at addressing the current–and pressing–  need for clearer and more transparent data on MPV in our State. The package also includes a proposal to make MPV vaccines more accessible to communities in hard to reach populations such as those in congregate shelters and folks who are incarcerated. We urge your offices to work with the NYC Council, and other relevant bodies across the State, to meet this public concern head on.   

We thank you both for your action in declaring MPV a public health emergency. That decision helped pressure the federal government to follow, cementing New York as a proactive leader on addressing the MPV outbreak. We know both of your offices are dedicated to equity and we hope to work with you on ensuring we are supporting the most at-risk communities here in New York.

Again, we ask that you please make Monkeypox Demographic (MPV) Vaccination data public.

Signed, 

Equality New York, The LGBT Center, & The New Pride Agenda