More than 200 Monkeypox cases reported with limited vaccine supply, Florida health officials say

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health gave an update on the nationwide Monkeypox outbreak and how it’s impacting Florida.   

"There is a little bit of good news, it is not easily transmissible, it does require that close physical contact," said Dr. Ulyee Cho, medical director for the Florida Department of Health.  

Dr. Cho said as of late Wednesday, there are 2,100 Monkeypox cases nationwide, and 208 cases are in Florida with 75% of the state’s cases in South Florida.   

Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, and a painful rash like chicken pox. Monkeypox is not deadly, and most cases have been mild affecting mainly men who have sex with other men.  

RELATED: Monkeypox vaccine supply can't keep up with demand as cases rise

FOX 13 spoke to a St. Petersburg man, who struggled to find a vaccine after fearing he came into close contact with the virus. By the time he got the shot, he already started to have symptoms.  

"We had to contact multiple people at the health department to try and just get in," said the man, who wanted to remain anonymous. "That was a pain, they didn’t make the process very easy no one kind of knew what was going on. 

Since May, only about 300,000 doses of the Monkeypox vaccine have been shipped out nationwide. Of those, Florida currently has only about 25,000 doses.   

Dr. Cho said about 17,000 more doses could be coming by the end of this month but is advising those at risk to limit contact.   

"We are really limited by the federal government in terms of allocation, again 25,000 for the state of Florida with more than half going to the areas with the highest amounts of disease," Dr. Cho said.  

Dr. Cho said he does expect the infection number to rise as testing becomes more available.