SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Though MPX, formerly known as monkeypox, has not been heard about in a while, the Pucci Pharmacy in east Sacramento is still working to educate and vaccinate people from the virus.
They say the vaccines have been working so well, people aren’t talking about the virus anymore.
“You actually see the effect of the vaccines working,” said Clint Hopkins, CEO of the pharmacy. “So we really started vaccinating aggressively here in early July. And we had a spike of infections as we just began vaccinating and then that continued on and after most people had received their second dose, the disease basically started to go away. And now we no longer have infections occurring in our county.”
Pucci’s Pharmacy has administered 6000 of the 10,000 vaccines in Sacramento county since July 8. Hopkins says he and his husband wanted to help the county disperse vaccines because they already served the communities most affected: men who have sex with men and transgender communities.
“As LGBT business owners have a lot of relationships with people in that community,” said Hopkins. “We were able to network and get folks in and then friends of friends and friends of friends. We got them in and networked it that way.”
The MPX vaccine is not the only vaccine Hopkins and his team administer. They also work to educate people on how to protect themselves.
“Our education consisted of just letting people know what impacts looked like and what to expect and how to avoid getting it,” said Hopkins. “We were able to basically eliminate impacts in our community.”
Pucci’s Pharmacy suggests if you've been exposed and are not having symptoms to get a vaccine. They also advise that if you have any questions make sure you check in with a physician and Pucci’s pharmacy can make a referral to a physician if you don’t have one.
Pop up clinics are also available around the county to receive a vaccine and can be found HERE.
Watch more from ABC10: 2022 Monkeypox Outbreak | California Monkeypox isolation guidelines tighten
