Galveston County Health District (GCHD) will offer the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine at Pride Galveston, Sept. 2-4. Vaccine will be available to everyone ages 18 and older, including non-Galveston County residents. Appointments are not required.

Vaccine will be available:

• Friday, Sept. 2, 9-11 p.m. at Robert?s Lafitte, 2501 Ave. Q, Galveston
• Saturday, Sept. 3, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at 706 Holiday Drive, Galveston
• Sunday, Sept. 4, 12-5 p.m. at Robert?s Lafitte, 2501 Ave. Q, Galveston

GCHD worked closely with the Texas Department of State Health Services, Harris County Public Health, Houston Health Department and Fort Bend Health & Human Services to secure additional monkeypox vaccine doses specifically for the Pride Galveston event. The health district has enough doses to vaccinate as many as 2,000 people.

JYNNEOS is a two-dose vaccine series administered four weeks apart. Individuals who receive their first vaccine dose during Pride Galveston can return to GCHD to receive their second dose or reach out to their local health department.

Please do not attend the vaccination event if you have monkeypox symptoms or are currently isolated for monkeypox. Speak to your healthcare provider about getting tested if you think you have monkeypox.

Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a rash that may look like pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth and on other parts of the body like hands, feet and chest. Some people may develop a rash first, followed by other symptoms. Others may only experience a rash.

The virus can spread from person-to-person through direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs or body fluids. It also can be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling or sex.