U.S. steps up fight against monkeypox,
allocates more vaccines to states
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[June 29, 2022]
By Julie Steenhuysen and Jeff Mason
CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S.
government is ramping up efforts to staunch the spread of monkeypox by
sending hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses to states in the coming
months, expanding access for those most at risk and increasing supply to
areas with high case numbers.
The plan, announced on Tuesday, involves rapidly expanding access to
doses of Bavarian Nordic's Jynneos vaccine - which has so far been
limited - to prevent monkeypox in areas with the highest transmission
and need.
State and local health departments can also order supplies of Emergent
BioSolutions' ACAM2000 vaccine, which is in much greater supply but
which has more side effects and cannot be used by everyone, including
those who are immunocompromised.
The Biden administration will allocate 296,000 doses of Jynneos from a
national stockpile to states and territories in the coming weeks, with
56,000 allocated immediately and 1.6 million doses made available over
the coming months, officials said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jun/29/images/ads/current/napa_sda_HEROES_2022.png)
The United States has 306 cases of monkeypox, a viral infection related
to smallpox that causes painful skin lesions. Although the virus is
endemic in parts of Africa, the current outbreak has hit countries where
the virus does not usually spread, sparking concern that it could become
more widespread.
"As additional supply becomes available, we will further expand our
efforts, making vaccines available to a wider population," Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told
reporters.
Those at highest risk have been men who have sex with men. Demand for
the vaccine has been growing. Last week, a New York clinic started
offering the vaccine and quickly ran out of available shots.
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![](../images/062922PIX/health5.jpg)
Workers sit outside of D.C. Health's first monkeypox vaccination
clinic, which is administering the first Jynneos vaccine doses
distributed in the U.S. capital, in Washington, U.S., June 28, 2022.
REUTERS/Gavino Garay
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png) Previously, health officials have
been focused on offering the vaccine to individuals with direct
contact with a person who has had a confirmed case of monkeypox. The
new strategy will expand that definition to include presumed
exposures, said Jennifer McQuiston, Deputy Director of CDC’s
Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.
These would include those who had close contact with someone
diagnosed with monkeypox, those who know their sexual partner was
diagnosed with monkeypox, and men who have sex with men who have
recently had multiple sex partners in a venue where there was known
to be monkeypox or in an area where monkeypox is spreading.
The goal of the initial phase of the strategy is to slow the spread
of the disease, administration officials said.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Jeff Mason; Editing by Shri
Navaratnam and Richard Pullin)
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