It was a bit of a throwback,” says Oli Kasin, sitting in his Peckham flat with mild flu-like symptoms, 24 hours after receiving his first vaccine at the walk-in centre at Guy’s Hospital on Sunday.
Just eight months ago the 32-year-old was having his third Covid jab. But this time, it’s a different virus Kasin and his friends find themselves queuing for hours to protect themselves against: monkeypox, a smallpox-like virus which the World Health Organisation this week declared a global health emergency — its highest alert — after more than 16,000 cases were identified in 75 countries, including five deaths. Symptoms vary, but can include a flu-like illness, and skin rashes, with one in 10 cases requiring hospital care and extreme cases leading to painful, bursting skin lesions that leave the victim “[screaming] out loud in pain”.
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