Tag Archive for: monkeypox vaccine

U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said on Thursday she was cautiously optimistic over a decline in the growth of new monkeypox cases, but that some areas of the country are still experiencing a rise in infections.

The National Institutes of Health said on Thursday it had started enrollments in a trial testing an alternative method of administering Bavarian Nordic’s monkeypox vaccine, Jynneos, which requires smaller dosages.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday said it will significantly expand the number of distribution locations for monkeypox vaccines and treatments through a new $20 million contract with AmerisourceBergen Corp.

It is possible to eliminate the monkeypox outbreak in Europe, World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday, highlighting evidence that case counts are slowing in a handful of countries.

The U.S. government said on Monday it would provide about $11 million to support the packaging of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos monkeypox vaccine at a U.S.-based manufacturer’s facility.

Most doses of Bavarian Nordic’s two-dose Jynneos monkeypox vaccine administered in the United States have been first doses, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said on Friday.

Monkeypox cases in some large U.S. cities appear to be declining, matching trends seen in Europe, and experts are cautiously optimistic the outbreak may have peaked in places hit hardest hit by the virus.

Bavarian Nordic, the maker of the only approved monkeypox vaccine, said on Wednesday it was exploring the viability of using technically expired doses to help bridge a growing gap between demand and supply due to the current outbreak.

Switzerland plans to procure 40,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine as well as 500 units of an antiviral drug, the government said on Wednesday.

A reliance on vaccines in short supply and questions over their best use are hampering efforts to curb the global spread of monkeypox which has hit dozens of countries for the first time, health officials say.