Clinics across the United States will begin offering monkeypox vaccines to anyone who has been exposed to the virus, federal health officials announced Tuesday.
So far, monkeypox vaccines were offered only to people with a known exposure or with any symptoms.
The Biden administration is committed to controlling the spread of monkeypox in the US. Hundreds of thousands of doses of Jynneos vaccine will be made available, with 56,000 to be shipped immediately and others coming in late July.
From @g0ingmad:https://t.co/ELjpbS4dZN
— Benjy Renton (@bhrenton) June 27,
States will receive doses of a newer, safer monkeypox vaccine called Jynneos from the federal reserve, based on the number of cases and the proportion of the state’s population at risk of severe disease, officials said at a news conference.
State health authorities may also request supplies of an older vaccine developed for smallpox, which it is believed to also protect against monkeypox.
The Department of Health and Human Services will provide 56,000 dose of the Jynneos vaccine immediately and 240,000 additional doses in the coming weeks. It is expected that others 750,13 doses will be available during the summer and a total of 1.6 million doses by the end of this year.
White House announces new monkeypox vaccine strategy, will prioritize areas with outbreaks https://t.co/lMLcx57H0H
— Bradenton Herald (@bradentonherald) June 29,
“Currently, this vaccine has some supply limitations and, for this reason, the administration’s current vaccination strategy prioritizes making it available to those who need it most. urgently,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The oldest smallpox vaccine, called ACAM2000, is associated with severe side effects, including death, in immunosuppressed people s, pregnant women and older adults.
The new vaccination plan prompted quick criticism from experts, who said the campaign was too small and slow to have an impact.
The longer it takes to contain the monkeypox outbreak, the greater the chance that the virus will take hold in the United States, particularly among men who have sex with men, the researchers warned.
Two SCOTUS cases that have gotten less attention: Ruan v US & Kahn v UShttps://t.co/6D1a9ZN13Q It will be more difficult for the government to prosecute doctors who overprescribe drugs, including docs who run “pill mills.” pic.twitter.com/OduFb62TlC— Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA 🇺🇦 (@celinegounder) June 27, 2022
“Many of us worry that the window is closing so we can eliminate monkeypox,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert and managing editor for public health at Kaiser Health News.
“If we don’t start vaccinating faster and more widely, it will be very difficult for us to contain this,” she said. Ideally, monkeypox testing and vaccinations could have been offered at LGBTQ Pride events across the country to reach men at high risk for the virus, Dr. Gounder added.
Also read: · New York begins vaccination against monkeypox, but demand without citation exceeds capacity WHO eliminated the endemic distinction for monkeypox Monkeypox: who is more likely to contract the disease
