The US ships an additional 144,000 monkeypox shots to expand testing as a case top 700

The United States is stepping up efforts to combat the outbreak of snowball monkeypox. This is the largest ever with 700 confirmed cases.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Thursday that it will distribute 144,000 doses of the two-shot Jynneos vaccine approved for monkeypox and smallpox to cities and states from Monday. It delivered 41,000 of which, in addition to the 56,000 doses available by the department last week.

Disease Control and Prevention Center Announced on Wednesday The Labcorp has begun testing monkeypox at its main lab in North Carolina. This lab can accept samples from all over the country. According to the CDC, Labcorp expects to run up to 10,000 tests per week, doubling the country’s testing capacity.

According to HHS, four other commercial labs will also begin testing in the coming weeks.

Monkeypox Spread to 54 countries and regions According to the CDC, the virus is not endemic and there are more than 7,200 cases worldwide.

“With proper application of our knowledge and resources, it is very likely that this outbreak will be eliminated. Contact tracing and detection timing, close contact quarantine, quarantine and vaccination. I hope we can accelerate to. ” Amira Albert Ross, a professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University, said.

But so far, US vaccination and testing efforts have been a bottleneck. All available vaccine reservations were quickly filled in New York City and Washington DC.Until Wednesday, the city and state will take all samples CDC Lab Response Network I had to wait for a diagnosis to confirm the infection.

“There are supply chain management and logistics issues with both vaccines and testing. We’ve seen a lot of the same with Covid, but unfortunately with monkeypox.”

Demand for monkeypox vaccine exceeds supply

California showed the highest number of monkeypox cases in the United States on Thursday (136), followed by New York (131), Illinois (91), Florida (72), and Washington DC (60).

The monkeypox vaccine is not available to the general public. Rather, some cities distribute shots to people at high risk of getting the virus. This includes those who have had physical close contact with a person known to be infected, and men who have had sex with a man and have recently had multiple partners. So far, the virus has disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men.

Illinois Health Department Said last week Chicago will receive 3,200 doses and the remaining states will receive an additional 1,300 doses.

New York State Health Department Said on thursday It has been vaccinated 8,200 times, of which about 6,000 have been vaccinated in New York City. However, as of Thursday, reservations were not available in the city. (Technical malfunction of online scheduling tool Wednesday It allowed some people to book prematurely and prevented others from scheduling vaccinations. ) New York City Health Department Said Slots were expected to open next week.

The Washington, DC Government website also offers Link to schedule an appointment However, keep in mind that all slots are reserved.

HHS has pledged to distribute a total of 1.9 million doses this year and another 2.2 million doses in the first half of next year.

Jynneos can be used to prevent monkeypox and reduce the severity of the disease even after being exposed to the virus. Shots can prevent someone from getting sick if given within 4 days of exposure, and can alleviate symptoms if given within 2 weeks of exposure.

But Mr. Les said, “If someone has a serious case of monkeypox, vaccination of them will not do anything.”

How monkeypox spreads

who Said last week The men (mainly in their 20s, 30s and 40s) account for 99% of the cases so far. However, WHO added that “currently, a small number of cases have been reported among household members, heterosexual contacts, non-sexual contacts, and even children.”

The virus is known to spread through lesions and rashes in infected individuals, respiratory droplets, or physical contact with contaminated items such as clothing and bedding. WHO is investigating whether monkeypox can also be sexually transmitted.

“If your parents are actively shedding the monkeypox virus, you as a child hugging them are at risk of getting infected,” Les said.

Like the United States, other countries and municipalities are deploying vaccines to high-risk groups, such as the United Kingdom, Berlin, and several cities in Canada.

In the United States, “these doses released should really be sufficient if strategically applied to people at risk,” Les said.

But to know exactly who it is, “you need a contact tracer, you need a communication expert, and historically it doesn’t,” she said.

People exposed to monkeypox Said They or their partners were not informed about the exposure or were not diagnosed in time for the vaccine to work.

“We have all the best resources in the world, but if we can’t use them in a timely manner, we won’t really hurt the transmission of monkeypox,” Les said. ..