Two US states — California and Illinois — on Monday, declared a state of emergency over the monkeypox outbreak.
Announcing this in a statement, Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said the emergency declaration would help support the state’s vaccination efforts.
The statement reads,”California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach.
“We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community fighting stigmatization.”