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Biden officials speed up monkeypox response with 1.8M more vaccine doses: What to know

Cady Stanton, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The Biden administration on Thursday announced an expansion of its available monkeypox vaccine and treatment supply as part of the White House's next steps in accelerating its response to the virus.

What was announced:

  • An additional 1.8 million doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine available for order on Monday

  • An additional 50,000 doses of the antiviral treatment tecovirimat – sold under the brand name TPOXX – for localities to request

  • A pilot program aimed at supplying vaccines to jurisdictions hosting large LGBTQ events with high attendance from gay and bisexual men

For context: The White House's monkeypox response has been criticized by health experts and LGBTQ advocates from the outset because of a slow launch on testing and not enough supply of vaccines to meet demand. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced a shake-up at the organization including internal staffing moves and steps to speed up data releases.

Why today's news is important: Monkeypox, a virus with symptoms that include fever, swollen glands, muscle aches and painful lesions, is primarily affecting gay and bisexual men in the U.S., with 93% of cases occurring among men who reported recent sexual contact with men, according to the CDC.

Number of cases: More than 13,500 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the U.S., according to the latest CDC data. Earlier this month, the Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency.

More coverage of monkeypox:

Expanding supply of vaccines, treatment

Vaccines: Beginning Monday, jurisdictions will be able to request more doses of the vaccine from a total of 360,000 additional vials, or 1.8 million doses. This accelerates the administration's timeline into phase four of the national vaccine strategy.

The country will also see an accelerated delivery of 150,000 vials in September that were initially scheduled for distribution in October, said Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response.

Last week in an effort to conserve vaccines and get as many shots in arms as possible, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the Jynneos vaccine that allows five doses to be obtained from the original single-dose vial.

"In all, we are making a lot of progress on monkeypox," said Bob Fenton, the White House monkeypox response coordinator, on Thursday. "This is because of the hard work across government that is scaling access to vaccines and tests, educating the public and ensuring jurisdictions are getting what they need."

Antiviral treatment: The administration also announced Thursday it will expand its supply of the antiviral treatment tecovirimat, sold under the brand name TPOXX, by 50,000 doses. Allocation will be based on the number of cases in an area and the number of individuals at high risk of contracting the virus, including those who are living with HIV.

Pilot program targets Pride, other events

Health officials also discussed a pilot program allowing state and local health departments to request and receive additional vaccines to support vaccination efforts at large LGBTQ events where gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men will be in attendance, such as Pride celebrations.

The administration will set aside 50,000 doses from the Strategic National Stockpile for jurisdictions to order on top of their existing vaccine allocations and supply.

"These events are important opportunities for people to connect with their community and to enjoy themselves," said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. "They're also a chance to provide public health messages and resources to otherwise hard-to-reach populations."

Walensky also noted that:

  • Currently, 98% of cases are among men and 93% of cases are among men who reported recent sexual contact with men.

  • Nearly 35% percent of cases are among those who are white, 33% are among those who are Hispanic and 28% of cases are among those who are Black, which demonstrates a significant overrepresentation of Black and Hispanic individuals compared to the general population.

White House criticized for initial missteps in response

Health experts have said the White House missed key opportunities to stop the spread of a virus, citing the decentralized American health care system, fatigue from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and competing priorities of federal agencies.

The two largest shortcomings have come around testing and vaccine distribution:

  • Tests were initially limited by a requirement that they were to be sent to the CDC for confirmation, drastically limiting the volume of tests that could be performed.

  • While two smallpox vaccines were developed years ago and approved for use against monkeypox, ACAM2000, which the federal government has a large supply of, carries severe side effects and risks, so few doses have been administered.

Officials have instead relied on Jynneos, a vaccine that seems to work well with few problems, though it has never been tried before during an actual monkeypox outbreak.

The government did not immediately order Jynneos doses released, as officials voiced concern the doses might be needed someday against smallpox instead of recognizing that they were needed immediately against monkeypox. Read more about the administration's response here.

Contributing: Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Monkeypox vaccine getting 1.8M more doses under Biden administration