Some of my slaves and sissies, and a few friends on Fetlife (eg _Papa-Bear_ -  https://fetlife.com/users/5273655), have been encouraging me to post more about Monkeypox – and in particular my experiences so far. So…

As I said in my last blog (https://msemilieoxford.com/2022/08/12/monkeypox-hiatus) I am a science geek. So over the last two years, I have really appreciated regular Covid bulletins from Katelyn Jetelina (Your Local Epidemiologist), who has a talent for making public health science (and epidemiology) understandable and accessible. And now she is starting to do the same job for monkeypox (MPV) – see https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/monkeypox-101-unanswered-... and https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/covid-19-and-monkeypox-similarities

The vaccine availability situation seems to have improved (in San Francisco at least). That might be because they have shifted to intradermal shots – which means that they can get five (5) shots compared to one (1) shot for intramuscular injection.

As a result, on September 1st, I was able to schedule a drive-through vaccine shot at the UCSF Mission Bay facility. That resulted in quite an impressive red area on my lower arm, which even now (10 days later) still has a raised red bump. Interestingly enough, it did not – and does not – hurt. It just looks “funky”.

My understanding is that two (2) weeks after that shot, I will be at 60-65% protected against severe disease. Which is pretty good but not that wonderful.

Then not less than four (4) weeks after the first shot – so that would be on or after September 29th – I can get a second shot. And then two (2) weeks after that – around mid-October – I will be at ~90-95% protected against severe disease. Which is a lot better.

But then, there are still questions. And this is a developing situation, so it is hard to be definitive.

  • The current thinking is that the predominant mode of infection is through sustained skin-to-skin contact – and that infection through surfaces and toys is not that likely. So there are behavioural things I can do to reduce risk…
  • If I am 90-95% protected against severe disease from approx. mid-October, how protected am I from infection? Can I still get infected and pass that infection on to someone close to me?

So there is a possibility that I will restart sessions again in mid-October. But there is still much that is unclear – so I am not being hard and fast about that. We will see…

Stay safe…

Ms Emilie