TORONTO — Ontario has expanded eligibility for the monkeypox vaccine to include a broader segment of the LGBTQ population as well as sex workers.
The new guidelines from the Ministry of Health, released Wednesday, allow people who are two-spirit, nonbinary, transgender and who belong to the LGBTQ community, and anyone with partners that identify as such, to receive a single dose of the pre-exposure monkeypox vaccine if they meet certain criteria.
The criteria includes those who have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection, have recently had or are planning to have two or more sexual partners and those who have had anonymous sex recently or are planning to.
It also includes those who have attended events and venues for sex, such as bath houses and sex clubs, or who work or volunteer in these settings, as well as those who are sexual contacts of sex workers.
Previously, the priority group for the vaccine was gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men who met certain criteria.
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