Today during a press briefing from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Secretary Xavier Becerra, JD, said that in the coming weeks, 1.1 million doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine will have been made available to Americans.
"They will get into the hands of people who need them over the course of next several weeks," Becerra said.
The announcement came a day after the HHS said it had released an additional 786,000 doses of vaccine after an expedited inspection and approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
"HHS is working to make these doses available to states and jurisdictions as soon as possible," Becerra said in a press release. "This action by the FDA is a critical step forward in our plans to strengthen and accelerate our monkeypox response, which includes distributing a safe and effective vaccine to those at highest risk of exposure to monkeypox."
The outbreak in the United States continues to grow, with more than 4,639 cases documented in 48 jurisdictions. Today during the press briefing, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials said 99% of cases have occurred in people assigned male at birth and that men who have sex with men (MSM) make up the majority of cases. Thirty-seven percent are White, 31% are Hispanic or Latino, 27% are Black, and 4% are Asian.
The four most common symptoms seen by US clinicians are rash, malaise, fever, and swollen lymph nodes.
Monkeypox to be nationally notifiable disease as of Aug 1
Yesterday, the CDC announced that monkeypox will now be a nationally notifiable disease as of Aug 1. This means states will be required to report confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases to the CDC within 24 hours of discovery.
Australia announced a similar move yesterday, despite having only 44 cases.
In other news, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization European region (ECDC/WHO) posted another monkeypox surveillance bulletin, which notes 13,043 cases from 37 countries. Of those, 339 were hospitalized, and 131 needed clinical care. There was one intensive care unit admission for reasons other than monkeypox.
Among patients with known HIV status, 37% were HIV-positive. Spain has the highest case count in the region, with 3,596 cases, followed by Germany with 2,410, and the United Kingdom with 2,208.
No deaths have been reported in Europe, and there have been no known occupational exposures.
