Roughly half of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) said they have cut down on their sexual activities due to the monkeypox outbreak, according to a CDC report.

Among 824 men who participated in the American Men’s Internet Survey (AMIS) monkeypox-specific follow-up survey, 47.8% said they reduced their number of sex partners, 49.8% said they reduced one-time sexual encounters, and 49.6% said they reduced sex with partners they met through dating apps or at sex venues, reported Kevin P. Delaney, PhD, of the CDC’s Monkeypox Emergency Response Team, and colleagues.

In addition, 50.4% of respondents said they reduced group sex participation, and 41.9% said they reduced their visits to sex venues or social events involving close contact, they noted in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

“What this means is that the LGBTQAI+ people are doing things that are actually reducing their risk and it’s working,” said Demetre Daskalakis, MD, the White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator, during a press briefing on Friday afternoon.

The change in behavior represents “strong progress. It shows that the work we’re doing to engage the community is having results and that the community has mobilized to protect itself,” he added.

Nearly one in five respondents said they had received ≥1 dose of monkeypox vaccine. Hispanic or Latino men were most likely to have received the vaccine (27.1%), while Black men were the least likely (11.5%). More vaccine recipients (27.8%) lived in urban areas compared with suburban areas (14.5%).

Vaccination uptake also differed depending on the number of sex partners a respondent had and whether they participated in group sex. Those with two or more partners in the prior 14 days were more likely to have received the vaccine (30.1%) compared with those who reported having no partners or one partner (13.9%). In addition, 31.5% of men who reported having group sex with male partners in the last 3 months said they received the vaccine compared with 12.8% who said they had not had group sex.

Vaccination was also more prevalent among men receiving HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Of note, among the 662 respondents who reported that they had not gotten a monkeypox vaccine, 28.5% said that they had attempted to get vaccinated.

To date, the global monkeypox outbreak has primarily affected the MSM population. Daskalakis noted that 94% of cases have been associated with sexual activity.

At the press briefing, he also highlighted a second MMWR study that showed that “temporary changes in behavior like the ones reported in the AMIS study will not only lead to a reduction in the percentage of people who [get] monkeypox but could also slow spread in the population, allowing more time for vaccination efforts to reach people who could benefit most.”

Thanks to both behavior changes and vaccine uptake, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago are beginning to report a “downward trend” in cases, said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH.

“Harm reduction messages [are] being heard and implemented, and all of that [is] working together to bend the curve,” she added.

On Monday, the CDC plans to make another 350,000 vials of the Jynneos vaccine available for distribution, in addition to the 1.1 million vials that have already been allocated, said Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS.

“Using the intradermal administration method, jurisdictions could administer up to 1.8 million doses of vaccines from these vials,” she noted, adding that the U.S. is “soon approaching the point where most people at highest risk will have access to two doses of Jynneos.”

However, Walensky acknowledged that vials contain “up to five doses,” and in some instances clinicians may only be able to get three.

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