The announcement was made during a briefing with the Department of Health and Human Services. The administration has been criticized at times for its handling of the outbreak, and some have called on the government to declare a state of emergency without delay. Since the first case of smallpox was identified in the U.S. in mid-May, more than 6,600 probable or confirmed cases have been identified in the United States. Cases have been identified in every state except Montana and Wyoming. The statement follows the World Health Organization’s announcement last month that monkeypox is a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO defines a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, as “an extraordinary event” that poses a “public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease” and “potentially requires a coordinated international response.” . Some cities and states, including New York, San Francisco, California, Illinois and New York, have already declared monkeypox a state of emergency, allowing them to free up funding and resources for their responses to the outbreak. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden named Robert Fenton as the White House’s national monkeypox response coordinator. Fenton — a Federal Emergency Management Agency regional administrator who oversees Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada — will coordinate the federal government’s response to the outbreak. Dr. Dimitris Daskalakis, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, serves as deputy coordinator. The Biden administration has been heavily criticized by some public health experts for not moving faster to address the crisis. One of the criticisms of the administration’s response, CNN reported earlier Thursday, was that HHS waited more than three weeks after the first confirmed case of smallpox in the U.S. to order bulk supplies of the monkeypox vaccine, which the government owns and stores in Denmark. , bottled and shipped to the US for distribution. The delay was partly due to concern that when these vaccines were removed from bulk storage, they would lose years of shelf life. Monkey pox can infect anyone, but the majority of cases in the US outbreak have been among men who have sex with men, including gay and bisexual men and people who identify as transgender. Close contact with an infected person is required for the monkeypox virus to spread, experts say. The CDC initially announced that monkeypox vaccines would be released from the Strategic National Stockpile and offered to “high-risk” contacts of monkeypox patients, as well as health care workers who treat them. Federal health officials have since expanded vaccination efforts to focus on the broader community of men who have sex with men, the demographic that accounts for most smallpox cases in the US. In addition to providing vaccines, the CDC has said since June that it has made a concerted effort to do extensive education and outreach to the LGBTQ2S+ community.
POSSIBLE CHANGE IN THE METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION OF THE VACCINE
Health officials are considering changing how the monkeypox vaccine is administered because the country is “at a critical inflection point” in the spread of the virus, the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told reporters Thursday. Dr. Robert Califf. “In recent days, it has become clear to all of us that given the continued spread of the virus, we are at a critical inflection point, dictating the need for additional solutions to address rising infection rates,” Califf said. “The goal has always been to vaccinate as many people as possible.” The commissioner said officials are considering allowing health care providers to be able to use a split-dose method where a vial of Jynneos vaccine — previously used as a single dose — would be used to administer up to five separate doses. That approach would change the way Jynneos is managed, Califf said. Instead of the vaccine being given into the fat layer under the skin, it will be given under the skin layer. “There are some advantages to intradermal delivery, including an improved immune response to the vaccine,” Califf said. “It is important to note that the overall safety and efficacy profile will not be sacrificed for this approach. Please know that we have explored all scientifically feasible options and believe this could be a promising approach.” This story has been updated with additional information.
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title: “Us Declares Monkeypox A Public Health Emergency " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-29” author: “Allie Walters”
“We are ready to take our response to the next level to address this virus and urge every American to take monkeypox seriously,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a briefing. The statement will improve the availability of data on monkeypox infections needed for response, said US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky, speaking with Bacerra. The US government has come under pressure for its handling of the outbreak. The disease began spreading in Europe before moving to the United States, which now has the most cases in the world with more than 6,600. Vaccines and treatments were lacking, and the disease was often left to historically underfunded sexual health clinics to manage. The World Health Organization has also declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern”, the highest level of alert. The WHO statement in late July was designed to spark a coordinated international response and could unlock funding for the collaboration to share vaccines and treatments. Governments are developing vaccines and treatments that were originally approved for smallpox but also work for monkeypox. The US government has distributed 600,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine and developed 14,000 Siga Technologies’ TPOXX treatment, officials said, although they did not disclose how many have been administered. Walensky said the government aims to vaccinate more than 1.6 million high-risk people.
Vaccination efforts
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf said the agency is considering releasing more Jynneos vaccine doses by allowing doctors to draw five doses of vaccine from each vial instead of the current dose using a different subcutaneous injection method. WATCHES | This American came to Canada for the smallpox vaccine:
To make the smallpox vaccine, this American came to Canada
Seattle, Washington resident Justin Moore trucked across the border into British Columbia with several friends to get vaccinated against monkeypox, which he says he couldn’t take home. He described the Canadian experience as “uplifting.” US President Joe Biden this month appointed two federal officials to coordinate his administration’s response to monkeypox, following emergency declarations from California, Illinois and New York. First identified in monkeys in 1958, the disease has mild symptoms such as fever, aches and pus-filled skin lesions. People tend to recover from it within two to four weeks, says the WHO. It is spread through close physical contact and is rarely fatal. The vast majority of cases in the US are among men who have sex with men. A person receives a monkeypox vaccine at a pop-up clinic in West Hollywood, California, on Wednesday. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) However, it has long been clear that anyone can become infected with monkeypox through multiple forms of close contact, including skin-to-skin contact such as touching or sex, respiratory droplets in a conversation, or even exposure to contaminated clothing or bed linen. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, told Reuters on Thursday that it was critical to engage leaders from the gay community as part of efforts to ease the epidemic, but cautioned against stigmatizing the community. “Community engagement always proves successful,” Fauci said.
