NYC & DC Go To Single Monkeypox Vaccine Doses + More

As the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S. has now surpassed 5,000+ cases, New York City and Washington, D.C. health officials have decided to administer only one shot of the recommended two doses of the Jynneos vaccine to help give at least some protection to more folks in the highest risk groups.

I am declaring a State Disaster Emergency to strengthen our ongoing efforts to confront the monkeypox outbreak. This Executive Order enables us to respond more swiftly, and allows health care professionals to take additional steps that will help get more New Yorkers vaccinated.

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) July 30, 2022

.@GovKathyHochul has declared a State Disaster Emergency over #monkeypox. Here’s what that allows: 1. Paramedics and EMT workers can administer vaccines 2. Pharmacies can request vaccines 3. Anyone who administers a vaccine must report it to the Dept of Health

— Jabari Brisport🌹 (@JabariBrisport) July 30, 2022

It’s important to note monkeypox is not an STD. You can get it while having sex, but you can also get it while having any sort of skin-to-skin contact with someone contagious. The latest via the Washington Post:

Nearly 5,200 people in the United States, mostly gay and bisexual men, have been diagnosed with monkeypox, which can spread through skin-to-skin contact, and causes fever, swollen glands, severe pain and lesions. Most experts believe that hundreds or thousands of cases likely remain undetected.

U.S. officials said that they have now secured 1.1 million Jynneos vaccines, including 786,000 doses finally cleared by regulators after being delayed in Denmark for more than a month, and which will “be in the hands of people who need them over the course of the next several weeks,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday.

Cases have been doubling about every 7.6 days in the United States, said Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

The next shipment of 500,000 Jynneos vaccines from Bavarian Nordic, the Denmark-based manufacturer, is not expected until the end of October.

Health officials have calculated the high-risk population that needs the vaccine soonest — including people who have been exposed to someone with monkeypox, as well as men who have had multiple sexual partners within the past two weeks in areas of known monkeypox spread — is around 1.6 million individuals and possibly higher. Following the recommended two-shot dosage, U.S. officials only have enough shots to cover about 550,000 people. On Friday, Spain’s health ministry reported 4,298 people were infected with the virus, making it the leading European country for monkeypox cases. Spain has reported two death in as many days from monkeypox. These are believed to be the first confirmed deaths from monkeypox outside Africa since the European outbreak began. Brazil also reported a death linked to monkeypox on Friday. The global monkeypox outbreak has seen more than 22,000 cases in nearly 80 countries since May. The World Health Organization has already declared monkeypox a “global emergency.”

As monkeypox spreads, officials grapple with new problem: we don’t have enough vaccine. U.S. only has enough FDA-approved monkeypox vaccines to cover about 550,000 people — and the next vaccine shipment isn’t due for three months.https://t.co/JvPFXHt9Kg

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) July 30, 2022