APLA Health on Aug. 18 led a group of more than 50 organizations in sending a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders calling for additional funding and resources to address the growing monkeypox virus outbreak in California.

According to the California Department of Public Health, new MPV cases in the state have more than doubled in the last two weeks alone. More than half of all confirmed cases are among Blacks and Latinos.

With the current legislative session ending later this month, APLA Health and partner organizations are urging lawmakers to take immediate action to halt the course of the current outbreak and prevent MPV from becoming further entrenched in the LGBTQ+ community and other vulnerable communities across California.

Specifically, the letter calls on the administration and Legislature to allocate $38.5 million to support MPV response activities at CDPH and local health departments that include scaling up outreach and education efforts, standing up vaccination clinics, supporting emergency staffing, improving data collection and analysis, and accelerating access to treatment.

The groups also called on the state to provide reimbursement for MPV vaccine administration. Vaccines are currently being distributed by the federal government, but there is no dedicated funding for the costs associated with vaccine administration at community clinics like APLA Health with a large numbers of LGBTQ+ patients.

Further, it calls for the state to require paid leave and financial support for those affected by MPV and make publicly available demographic data on vaccine administration and treatment access.

APLA Health also continues to ramp up pressure on the federal government to improve its response to the MPV outbreak.

On July 20, APLA Health CEO Craig E. Thompson was joined by local LGBTQ+ leaders for a press conference to demand stronger leadership from the federal government.

APLA Health also endorsed a letter from more than 100 members of Congress urging President Joe Biden’s administration to dedicate $100 million to support MPV response efforts.

Last week, APLA Health supported a letter from U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and 10 members of the L.A. County congressional delegation to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra that highlighted the urgent need to procure and distribute additional MPV vaccine doses – particularly for areas like Los Angeles County that have been hardest hit by the current outbreak.

L.A. County announced on Aug. 17 that it received an additional 28,000 vaccine doses, significantly less than originally expected. The federal government announced on Aug. 18 that additional doses will become available beginning this week.

APLA Health, to date, has administered more than 1,300 vaccine doses and remains committed to vaccinating as many of its patients and community members as possible.

For information, visit aplahealth.org.