The Biden administration and local leaders are walking a fine line as they play catchup with the surging monkeypox, scrambling to get vaccines and tests to an LGBT community that is losing patience while combatting the idea this is a sexually transmitted disease for gay men.
Mounting cases and difficulty in accessing vaccines have led to frustration among advocates who fear the government isn’t doing enough to stem monkeypox, which has little history in countries outside of Africa and features a painful rash.
Comparisons to the early response to HIV/AIDS, which was marked by stigma and early failures, are hard to ignore.