The Monkeypox virus is surging through the U.S. as cases are rising in all fifty states. The Biden administration is said to distribute the monkeypox vaccine across the country, focusing on people that are at risk, such as immunocompromised individuals and communities with the highest number of cases, White House officials announced Tuesday. The U.S. The Department of Health and Human Services will send out 56,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine to areas with high transmission. Additionally, 240,000 doses will be sent out over the next few weeks, moving into summer and fall. Officials expect to make at least 1.6 million doses sent out by the end of the fall.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said in a news briefing on Tuesday, “We are recommending that vaccines be provided to both people with known monkeypox exposures contacted by public health and those who’ve been recently exposed. Monkeypox is not novel. We, as a global community, have known about it for decades. We, as a global community, have known about it for decades. We know how it spreads. We have tests that help identify infected people. We have vaccines that are highly effective against it.”
The CDC has said that they are prioritizing access to the vaccine for people who have been in close contact, including sexual contact, with someone who has been diagnosed with the monkeypox virus. The vast majority of confirmed monkeypox cases, globally and in the U.S., have been among men who have sex with men. Therefore, the agency will also provide vaccines to men who have reported to have had multiple sex partners in an area of the country with elevated.
New York City and Washington D.C. are among the first cities to start vaccinating at-risk groups for monkeypox.
