The White House announced Thursday that 1.8 million doses of the monkeypox vaccine will be available for distribution next week.
At a press conference, White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator Bob Fenton said US jurisdictions will be able to order additional doses through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) starting Monday. said it would be
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Wallensky and his HHS Director Xavier Becerra also participated in the news briefing.
Fenton said less than 10 days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC approved the Jynneos vaccine for emergency use against monkeypox in individuals over the age of 18, he HHS said he delivered nearly one million doses to patients. US states and cities have the largest program of this type of monkeypox vaccine in the world.
The additional doses are part of the National Monkeypox Response Team's plan to combat and mitigate the spread of the viral disease outbreak in the United States, Fenton said.
HHS said it was working to launch a pilot program that would provide up to 50,000 doses from the national stockpile for use at events attended by large numbers of gay and bisexual men.
Monkeypox is not classified as a sexually transmitted disease or STI, but it is known to disproportionately affect men who have sex with men. The disease can be spread through close or intimate physical contact such as hugging, kissing, and sex. You can also become infected by touching infected items such as clothing, bedding, and towels.
The Biden administration has also significantly improved the availability and convenience of monkeypox testing, according to Fenton, expanding the number of tests per week from 6,000 he said to 80,000. says.
Some information in this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
