for more, we're joined by joe osmundson, professor of microbiology at new york university. scientist, activist, and author of the new book "virology: essays for the living, the dead, and the small things in between." he is featured in a new piece in "the new yorker" headlined "the agony of an early case of monkeypox." it begins "on the evening before juneteenth, joseph osmundson, when my best friends and a microbiologist at nyu, texted me, we think andy has monkeypox. two nights earlier, our friend andy had spent hours hunched over in an emergency room with excruciating rectal pain only to be refused testing. it was his third try in five days. requires the appearance of lesions on the skin. he needed help. well, that is the opening paragraph of the he's in "the new yorker." tell us where you went from there and in the process, explain what monkeypox is. >> actually, i will start with the second part. monkeypox is not a new virus. this is sort of why our community has been so frustrated by the lack of urgency to get us the tools we need to care for ourselves and each other a

more on all this, i'm joined by joseph osmundson, a microbiologist at new york university and author of the new living, the dead, and the small things in between." joe so much for joining the newshour. i was watching some of those tiktok videos, and one of em said he was sharing his monkeypox experience to reduce stigma. i want to start there. is stigma something that a lot of people are worried about with this? >> thank you so much for having me. and of course. this is primarily impacting the queer community right now. it's being spread our social and sexual networks. it is a virus that is new in this context and has been understudied because of the regions where it has been common for decades. there is so much we don't know. so it is frightening when a new virus comes into our community and our population. we want to make sure to get the best information out there and have the best access in our community to what people need. they need tests, they need treatment, and we need vaccines to stop the spread. stephanie: let's talk about vaccines for a minute. the biden administration announced a national vaccination campaign, but it is limited. only 56,