Sen. Scott Wiener Chosen as Chairman of Senate Select Committee on Monkeypox
Many question if there is any need for Committee in the first place
By Evan Symon, August 5, 2022 4:16 pm
Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced on Thursday that he would be the Chairman of the newly-formed Senate Select Committee on Monkeypox.
Monkeypox, a virus that cause rashes, swollen glands, and fever among other symptoms that is also rarely deadly, had it’s first recorded cases in Africa in early May. While the U.S. did see some cases in May, the number of cases quickly grew in June and July. While anyone can get the virus through skin-to-skin contact, currently 98% of cases outside Africa have been reported by homosexual men, with 71% of the cases are white, and 41% of cases are those with HIV/AIDS.
In California, monkeypox has particularly hurt gay communities, with the city of San Francisco alone accounting for one-third of all cases within the state and enacting a local public health emergency as a precaution. On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over monkey pox due to the spread of the virus statewide, the zeroed-in effect of monkeypox on the LGBT community and the possibility of mutations that could lead to more widespread effects and transmission by more people. While the growth has been slow, with California reporting 799 cases last Wednesday and only 1,310 cases this Wednesday, an emergency was nonetheless declared.
“California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach,” said Newsom in a statement on Monday. “We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community fighting stigmatization.”
“Expanding the pool of eligible vaccinators will substantially aid current efforts and support anticipated further vaccination efforts upon receipt of additional doses from the federal government.”
A new committee on monkeypox
The state legislature, mirroring their response to prior outbreaks such as SARS, Bird Flu, and COVID-19, soon formed a select committee to address the issue, with Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) appointing Wiener to chair it on Thursday. Senators Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa), Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), and Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) were also appointed to the committee.
“Monkeypox is a public health emergency, and we need to do everything we can to contain the outbreak,” said Senator Wiener. “Monkeypox is a painful and serious infection, and no one should have to endure it. We need to ensure California’s response, at both the state and local level, is effective and adequately funded. Our community is depending on us to deliver.”
In his press release, Wiener also noted, “Due to this federal public health failure, we have very limited vaccine supply. Gay and bisexual men and others at risk desperately want the vaccine in order to protect themselves and those around them. Yet, instead of quickly mobilizing into a mass vaccination campaign with this existing safe and effective vaccine, many of our counties lack the supply to vaccinate everyone seeking the vaccine. In San Francisco, for example, people have been waiting in lines for as long as 9 hours in the hope of getting a scarce vaccine. The long wait times create further barriers for low-income, marginalized communities to access the vaccine.”
While monkeypox has hit the LGBT community hard, with the Counties of San Francisco and Los Angeles alone accounting for 829 of California’s 1,310 cases so far, many experts have said that it is still too early to tell if the monkeypox outbreak is large enough to justify the actions taken this week, and that local preventative measures are still still the best option.
“This is still very much a small issue,” explained nurse Ellen Barkley, who has been assisting some local efforts in California, to the Globe on Friday. “The number of cases it has had so far, flu and other seasonal illnesses spread more, and that’s not even getting into the COVID-19 situation right now.”
“The fact is that this virus has affected principally one group, the LGBT+, and many still have what happened with COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 fresh in their minds. It deserves to be looked at and tracked, but we don’t see committees on it. We need further public awareness and local health departments working with the communities at-risk to stop it. A simple and effective plan that has halted many viruses and other bugs going around in the past. Right now, all of this just seems like theater and we’re not focusing more on the tried and true methods of stopping it.”
The Select Committee on Monkeypox will hold their first oversight hearing on August 9th.
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Monkeypox is the new red herring.
Supplemental Observation: It looks like most of the cases in LA County are in West Hollywood.
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/monkeypox/data/index.htm
You’ve said it all, Eyeroll. This is RIDICULOUS. But we knew the gang of alarmist phonies were heading into overdrive the very MINUTE we heard “monkeypox” (or as Cali Girl says, “moneypox”), didn’t we?
Decades ago, myth-buster Michael Fumento turned out to be 100% correct in setting the record straight about “AIDS hysteria for all,” and he is 100% correct now about “monkeypox hysteria for all.” Read him:
“Here We Go Again —- The Woke Democratization of Monkeypox”
https://spectator.org/monkeypox-democratization/
Ha, ha yes there is no money in abstinence and apparently no “leadership” role in the state senate.
Will this be a committee of one?
It can be prevented by abstinence and treated with drugs already on the market. However there is no big pharma money in that. Get the whips and and leather wear out, it is time for a party Mr. Wiener. Congrats on leading the state out of this “crisis” but please remember the mask now should cover your back side!
HA! No kidding.
Scott Weeeeeiner, Monkeypox czar….if he wasn’t so absolutely disgusting it’d almost be hilarious. Will he be abstaining or spreading?
It’s true, Denise! I admit I laughed when I saw the headline.
Thanks for the read ShowandTell.
🙂 Cali Girl. Never miss a CG comment.
He’s definitely a super spreader. I know the eyes.
As chair-person, it would only be appropriate if he were to be in his drag duds.
All the queens in S.F. are laughing loudly at the coup they have pulled on Sacramento and the Great Golden State.
If you don’t want to “endure painful monkeypox” a simple solution is abstinence. Abstinence is FREE! And 100% effective. Donkeypox has a far higher mortality rate for heterosexuals, can we have a committee for that?
I was told back in 2020 that if I didn’t mask up in public and agree to limit my participation in public events, then I was a selfish jerk who was causing the coronavirus to continue to spread. But today we’re being told that suggesting to gay men that they avoid indiscriminate sex with multiple partners is just plain homophobia on our part, and that the monkeypox virus is far more complicated than a simplistic plea for temporary abstinence.
The lunatic is now officially in charge of the asylum. The results will not be surprising to anyone but him and Noisome.
Of course he is…
Anything gay, Weiner’s ALL over it…
Talk about myopic….amomg other things…
At Dore Alley, they were requiring you cover your mouth with a mask but not your ass with chaps …. and if you wanted to go the Powerhouse (which has a notorious back room) they were checking your ‘covid’ vaccination status. I’m sure Scott Wiener will laugh it all the way to the bank with his donations from Gilead while securing $400,000 annual salaries for the Cronies at the SF AIDS Foundation who profit from all this.
Crazy Clown World
So… we can’t do anything because the (can’t use the word) mafia is protecting itself in spite of it being a 99% (can’t say the word) infection passed by (can’t say the word).
They protect themselves… politically!