The move comes after pressure from states, which have been pressuring the Administration to release more doses of smallpox vaccine from the Strategic National Stock, which is managed by the Office of the Deputy Secretary for Preparedness and Response of the Department of Health and Human Services. Critics have also accused the United States of not providing enough evidence to control the spread of the virus, which is believed to be more widespread than current case counts suggest.
The new plan addresses both. It will release more vaccines in areas with higher case rates and expand testing, making testing available in five commercial laboratories in addition to an existing network of public health laboratories.
On Tuesday, HHS also activated the CDC’s Emergency Operations Center, to give the agency more flexibility and manpower to handle the country’s monkeypox response.
The new plan will allocate vaccine doses based on a state’s case rates, focusing on men who have sex with men and their known partners, as well as anyone who thinks they might have been exposed. recently to the virus as an anonymous partner.
“If you’re among those who have had a known exposure or in a group that has a higher risk of exposure over the past two weeks, this is what we would like you to know,” said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
“Post-exposure vaccination, or the use of vaccines for post-exposure prophylaxis, aims to reduce the risk of becoming infected with the monkeypox virus and then becoming ill. Vaccination should be done within two weeks of a possible exposure, and the sooner you can get vaccinated. After the exposure, the better, “Walensky said.
To date, in the U.S., there have been 306 cases of monkeypox identified in 28 jurisdictions. Globally, more than 4,700 cases from 49 countries have been reported, he said.
Currently, 10 states would be considered to be in the first priority level when it comes to ordering vaccines.
The plan comes amid Gay Pride, a month full of celebrations that celebrate gender and sexual diversity, and a season that many in public health have worried will only fuel the spread of the monkeypox virus, which is transmits by close contact, including sex. .
Dr. Walensky said that currently, the only people who can get vaccines against monkeypox are those with a known exposure.
Given the large number of contacts and the difficulty in identifying all contacts during the current outbreak, the new strategy will recommend vaccines for those who have known exposure and are contacted by public health, as well as those who have been recently exposed, but that they have not been. identified by contact tracking.
This includes those who had close physical contact with someone diagnosed with monkeypox, those who know their sexual partner was diagnosed with monkeypox, and men who have sex with men who have recently had multiple sexual partners in a place where it is known that there was smallpox or in an area where the monkey’s smallpox is spreading.
The vaccination plan may require the U.S. to use two different types of vaccines.
The first is a newer, more modern vaccine called Jynneos, made by a Danish company called Bavarian Nordic. It was evaluated and developed to treat monkeypox infection. The US currently has 64,000 doses of this vaccine in stock. The government will make 56,000 of these doses available to states in the first phase of deployment.
The United States has ordered more of this vaccine and the government plans to make 1.25 million more doses of the Jynneos vaccine available during the summer and fall, the administration said. There are 300,000 doses that were withheld by the manufacturer that are currently on their way.
The problem is that the United States does not have enough doses of Jynneos to vaccinate anyone who wants it, so public health officials are also considering whether to use a second, older type of vaccine called ACAM. The ACAM vaccine was developed to treat smallpox. It is administered by using a two-pronged needle that is repeatedly dipped into the vaccine and used to puncture the skin on the top of the arm, causing the formation of a small sore or “pock”.
“It’s a very old-school technology that’s basically that I don’t know any doctor who really knows how to do it. So it’s actually very difficult to deploy because you have to train people in a new vaccination methodology.” said Dr. Jay Varma, professor and director of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response in New York City.
The other complication is that the ACAM vaccine uses a live but weakened version of a virus to inoculate a person.
“It’s not supposed to be safe to use in people with HIV,” Varma said. The main risk group for monkeypox, men who have sex with men, also has high rates of HIV infection.
On Tuesday, Dr. Walensky said that as more Jynneos vaccine arrives in the U.S., the country will adjust its strategy to include more people.
“You know, as soon as we have more vaccines available, of course, we will continue to expand from a post-exposure prophylaxis strategy, ideally to a pre-exposure prophylaxis strategy,” Walensky said.
On Tuesday, public health experts said the expansion would be important.
“It is critical that we bring the vaccine to the population at risk and address the use of the vaccine as much as we approach pre-exposure prophylaxis to HIV,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, who heads the Research Center. and University of Minnesota Infectious Disease Policy.