There have been 119 monkeypox cases documented in Utah as of Friday, with 73% of infections concentrated in Salt Lake County, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Salt Lake County has reported seven new cases since Tuesday, according to Nicholas Rupp, county health department spokesperson. The county now accounts for 87 of the state’s cases, followed by Utah County with 12 cases.
Davis County and the Weber/Morgan County area each have reported eight cases. Summit County reported two cases, followed by one case each in Tooele County and in the Tri-County area.
“Our epidemiologists told me that what we’re seeing here is matching the overall trend nationally,” Rupp said.
Any sexually active man — or transgender or nonbinary person — who has sex with men is eligible to be vaccinated against monkeypox in Salt Lake County, according to the county health department’s website.
Vaccinations also are available at all local health districts across the Wasatch Front, Rupp said. So far, more than 2,000 doses have been distributed in Salt Lake County.
“The vaccine is fortunately now widely available,” Rupp said. Following the county’s initial push for vaccination, officials are now targeting “under-resourced” communities — such as Spanish-speakers and Pacific Islanders — for vaccine access, “to make sure that they’re taken care of too,” Rupp said.
Salt Lake County plans to host additional monkeypox vaccine clinics through September.
A list of places throughout the state where the monkeypox vaccine doses are available can be found at epi.health.utah.gov/monkeypox/.
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