The Democratic chairperson of the House Oversight Committee is demanding information from the Biden administration regarding monkeypox, including how the government plans to deal with the disproportionate impact the disease has on LGBTQ+ individuals.
In a new letter to Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Bacerra, obtained first by New York TV station NY1, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan voiced concern about the supply of vaccines not meeting the demand. “In New York City, vaccine appointments fill up within minutes,” she wrote. “I am also concerned that both CDC and commercial laboratories lack adequate capacity to test people experiencing monkeypox symptoms,” she continued.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, also a Democrat representing New York, wrote to the inspector general of HHS and the Government Accountability Office earlier, calling attention to the issue and asking for an investigation into the MPV response.“The U.S.
has a long and ugly history of ignoring the public health needs of the LGBTQ community. For many in the community, history is repeating itself,” the congressman representing the Bronx wrote.Over 2,100 cases of MPV have been confirmed in the U.S.