Health

Andy Cohen shares advice for gay men as New York declares monkeypox ’emergency’

Andy Cohen

Andy Cohen makes an appeal about Monkeypox. (Twitter/What Would Happen Live)

American talk show host Andy Cohen has spoken out on the monkeypox “emergency” declared by the mayor of New York. 

During his late night Bravo show Watch What Happens Live! he made an emotional appeal to the gay community to stay safe and for everyone to take the virus seriously. 

He also shared the clip to Instagram with the caption: “A word about monkeypox…”

The statement comes after New York city mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency after a spike in monkeypox cases.

“After what’s been an abysmal response from our government so far I’m hoping this new order will help our leaders actually deal with this threat,” he began.

Andy Cohen also pleaded with the federal government to “deploy badly needed resources like vaccines which have been very hard to come by”.
Then he turned the message into an urgent appeal: “And I want to speak to my gay brothers for a minute, we need to take this seriously because this is affecting us at much higher rates than others right now.

“So be aware, get vaccinated if you can and please, I know it’s summer, and we all have COVID fatigue but please be safe and don’t take unnecessary risks.”

He added: “I call on the government and the media to not stigmatise our community which is already under attack from many who would rather use us as a scape goat than help us.

“And if you are not a gay man you might think this doesn’t affect you now but this is everyone’s problem because as we have learned from very recent history unless we act now these things can get a whole lot worse very quickly.”

Andy Cohen is known for using his platform to support the LGBTQ+ community, most recently rebuking Texas governor Greg Abbott for comparing healthcare for trans youth to child abuse. 

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