The move comes after pressure from states to urge the administration to release more doses of monkeypox vaccine from the strategic national stockpile managed by the Assistant Secretary’s Office of Readiness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services. Critics have also accused the United States of not offering enough tests to monitor the spread of the virus, which is thought to be more widespread than current cases suggest.
The new plan addresses both. It will release more vaccines in areas with the highest rates of cases and increase testing by making tests available in five commercial laboratories in addition to the existing network of public health laboratories.
On Tuesday, the HHS also activated the CDC’s Emergency Operations Center to give the agency more flexibility and manpower to manage the nation’s response to monkeypox.
The new plan will distribute the doses of the vaccine based on the number of cases in a country, focusing on men who have sex with men and their known partners, as well as anyone who thinks they may have been recently exposed to the virus as anonymous partner.
“If you’re among those who have had some exposure or in a group that has a higher risk of exposure in the last two weeks, here’s what we’d like you to know,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Valenski.
“Post-exposure vaccination or the use of post-exposure prophylaxis vaccines aims to reduce the risk of contracting the monkeypox virus and then becoming ill. Vaccination should be carried out within two weeks of possible exposure, and the earlier you can be vaccinated after exposure, the better. “
So far, 306 cases of monkeypox have been identified in 28 jurisdictions in the United States. More than 4,700 cases from 49 countries have been reported worldwide, she said.
Currently, 10 states will be considered the first level of priority when ordering vaccines.
The plan comes amid gay pride, a month filled with parties celebrating gender and sexual diversity, and a season that many in public health worry will only fuel the spread of the monkeypox virus, which is spread through close contact, including sex.
Currently, the only people who can get monkeypox vaccines are those with some exposure, Walenksy said.
Given the large number of contacts and the difficulty in identifying all contacts during the current epidemic, the new strategy will recommend vaccines for those with some exposure to whom public health is in contact, as well as those who have recently been exposed but have not is identified by contact tracking.
This includes those who have had close physical contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox, those who know that their sexual partner has been diagnosed with monkeypox, and men who have sex with men who have recently had multiple sexual partners. a place where monkeypox is known to occur or in an area where monkeypox is spread.
The vaccination plan may require the United States to use two different types of vaccines.
The first is a newer, modern vaccine called Jynneos, which is produced by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic. It was evaluated and developed to treat monkeypox infection. The United States currently has 64,000 doses of this vaccine in stock. The government will make 56,000 of these doses available to states in the first phase of implementation.
The United States has ordered more of this vaccine and the government plans to provide another 1.25 million doses of the Jynneos vaccine in the summer and fall, the administration said. There are 300,000 doses held by the manufacturer that are currently on the way.
But the United States does not have enough doses of Jynneos to vaccinate anyone who may want it, so public health officials are also considering using a second, older type of vaccine called ACAM. The ACAM vaccine has been developed to treat smallpox. It is given with a two-toothed needle, which is repeatedly dipped into the vaccine and used to prick the skin of the upper arm, causing the formation of a small sore or ‘hole’.
“It’s kind of like old-school technology that I don’t usually know about clinicians who actually know how to do it. So it’s actually very difficult to implement because you have to teach people a new vaccine methodology, “said Dr. Jay Varma, professor and director of the Cornell Pandemic Prevention and Response Center in New York.
Other complications are that the ACAM vaccine uses a live but attenuated version of the virus to inoculate a person.
“It’s not supposed to be safe to use in people with HIV,” Varma said. The main risk group for monkeypox – men who have sex with men – also has high levels of HIV infection.
On Tuesday, Valenski said that as more Jynneos vaccine arrives in the United States, the country will adjust its strategy to include more people.
“You know, as soon as we have more vaccines, we will, of course, continue to expand from a post-exposure prophylaxis strategy, ideally to a pre-exposure prophylaxis strategy,” Valenski said.
On Tuesday, public health experts said enlargement would be important.
“It is crucial to provide a vaccine to the at-risk population and to approach, to use vaccines as much as we approached pre-HIV prophylaxis,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, who heads the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University. of Minnesota.
Add Comment