Top line
Monkeypox vaccines will be offered to anyone in the United States who thinks they have been exposed to the virus and groups most at risk of catching it, including men who have sex with men, measures they hope will limit the growing outbreak as they work to support limited supplies.
People lined up for monkeypox vaccines in New York.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Key facts
The new strategy recommends that anyone with confirmed or suspected exposure to monkeypox be vaccinated, extending earlier rules limiting vaccines to only those with known exposures.
This includes people who have had close physical contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox, people who know that their sexual partner has been diagnosed, and “men who have sex with men who have recently had multiple sexual partners in a place where it is known to have monkeypox or in an area where monkeypox is spread, ”said the Ministry of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS said it would make 56,000 doses of the Jynneos monkey vaccine immediately available to states from national stocks and provide an additional 240,000 doses in the coming weeks.
Jynneos, produced by Danish biotechnologist Bavarian Nordic, is given in two doses, delivered 28 days apart, and is safer than the two vaccines used against monkeypox.
Supplies are limited, and officials said the states with the highest rate of monkeypox and where there are more people vulnerable to serious diseases will be a priority, with Hawaii, Massachusetts, Utah, Illinois, New York, Rhode Island, California , Colorado and Florida and Washington, DC. planned to be at the first level of vaccine recipients, according to draft plans seen by the Washington Post.
States may also request supplies of ACAM2000, an older smallpox vaccine that is also thought to protect against monkeypox and is in much greater supply, although it has serious side effects and its design. makes it unsuitable for immunocompromised and pregnant people.
Key background
Monkeypox is a well-understood entity that has been raging in parts of Central and West Africa for decades. For decades, monkeypox has also been largely ignored by the world community, which rarely encountered the disease before this year’s epidemic, and these cases have almost always been travel-related. It is not easily spread and is mainly transmitted through close contact with an infected animal or person or contaminated objects such as towels, clothes or bedding, although it can also be spread through respiratory droplets formed when people breathe, cough, talk or sneeze. . Monkeypox usually causes symptoms that include fever and a characteristic rash. The infection is usually relatively mild and will go away on its own within about a month. However, it can kill and cause serious illness, and the infection is especially risky for children and pregnant people. The virus is a close relative of smallpox, arguably one of the deadliest diseases affecting humanity and the only human disease ever eradicated. This proximity means that treatments and vaccines for monkeypox are available, even if they are not intended for it.
Peg News
In May, the almost simultaneous appearance of monkeypox in countries where it is not common in Europe and North America has alarmed experts and public health authorities. Some of these experts have long warned that a complete cessation of smallpox vaccination will make the world vulnerable to outbreaks of monkeypox, and the way the cases have occurred suggests that it may have been circulating quietly for some time. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that as of June 29, there were 351 confirmed cases of smallpox in large groups in California (80), New York (72), Illinois (46) and Florida (35). The official number is likely to be greatly underestimated and may paint an overly rosy picture of the spread of the disease. Experts warn that inadequate and insufficient tests for the virus have left the nation in the dark about the true extent of the outbreak. Globally, the CDC said there were more than 5,000 cases confirmed in 51 different countries by laboratory tests during the epidemic in 2022. Most of them were registered in European countries such as the United Kingdom (1076), Germany (874 ), Spain (800), France (440), Portugal (391) and the Netherlands (257). A remarkable cluster has also been documented in Canada (276). Many more cases are suspected but not confirmed, and official estimates are likely to underestimate the number of cases, especially in areas with poor testing infrastructure. These data also do not reflect the extent of the much longer-lasting monkeypox epidemic, which has continued in some African countries, particularly Nigeria, since earlier this year and as an endemic disease for decades. Although more infections have been observed for a much longer period of time, these countries have not received any monkeypox vaccines.
Big number
1.6 million. That’s how many doses of the Jynneos vaccine will be provided by the federal government this year, HHS said, including nearly 300,000 doses that have already been released or are expected in the coming weeks. HHS said it expects an additional 750,000 doses to be provided in the summer and another 500,000 in the fall. By the end of June, HHS said it had already distributed more than 9,000 doses of the vaccine.
What to watch for
Vaccine deliveries and change of eligibility. There is almost no Jynneos vaccine available in federal stocks for anyone who may want it. There are already supply problems in areas that launched their initiatives before the national campaign. In Washington, D.C. and New York, vaccine deliveries reportedly ended less than a day after they began their immunization campaigns. The problem may be exacerbated if the eligibility guidelines expand or the outbreak increases. Officials acknowledged the limited supply of vaccines and suggested that the national strategy could change as supplies become more stable. A stronger vaccine supply chain could mean switching to vaccinating people before they have been exposed to monkeypox, CDC Director Dr Rochelle Valenski told a news briefing.
Tangent
Although the Jynneos vaccine may be in short supply, HHS officials told Forbes that there was enough smallpox vaccine in federal stocks to immunize the entire U.S. population. The exact breakdown is not clear, but a significant portion consists of the ACAM vaccine. There is also a third vaccine, Aventis Pasteur against smallpox (APSV), which has similar failures as ACAM and is not approved for use. The nature of the ACAM vaccine poses some unique challenges if supplies of Jynneos are insufficient. In addition to the noted risk of potentially serious side effects, the vaccine uses a related virus, vaccinia, to cause a wound or looseness in the recipient, usually the upper arm. In rare cases, this can spread elsewhere on the body or even to other people and can leave a mark. The use of live virus limits to whom it can be given, in particular with the exception of people with compromised immune systems, those in close contact with such people and pregnant people. Because cases of monkeypox have been reported disproportionately among men who have sex with men, this is a potentially significant problem, as the percentage of people living with HIV is higher in this community. There is an additional problem with how the ACAM frame is used. It relies on an old form of immunization, involving a separate technique and a special branched needle, which most practicing clinicians are unlikely to have much experience, if any, to use.
More information
LGBTQ Pride events offer a time to create or rest for monkeypox (NBC News)
What you need to know about how monkeypox spreads – and whether you should wear a mask (Forbes)
Add Comment