U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) is calling on President Joe Biden to appoint a Monkeypox Czar to heighten the administration’s response to the “outbreak that is primarily impacting gay and bisexual men.”Congressman Crist, who is running for his former job of governor of Florida, is calling the outbreak an LGBTQ rights issue.
He says in his letter to the President, “a Monkeypox Czar would send a message to anxious Americans, as well as federal health agencies, that the Administration has learned from the mistakes and successes of the COVID-19 pandemic.”He is urging the CDC to “update guidance for getting vaccinated against Monkeypox for high-risk groups.”“If CDC’s consensus is that the best way to reduce Monkeypox spread is for all sexually active gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men to receive the JYNNEOS vaccine for pre-exposure prophylaxis, the guidance should say so,” Crist stresses in his letter.
The heads of CDC, FDA, and NIAID are copied on it.READ MORE: ‘We Would Hope She Would Understand’: Anti-Abortion Group Official Says 10 Year Old Should Have Given Birth to Rapist’s BabyCrist’s letter comes as Axios reports “health officials are racing to halt the spread before the disease becomes endemic in more countries.