Monkeypox Cases Reach 13.500, US Government Increases Vaccine Supply Of 1.8 Million Doses

Vaccine illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/CDC/James Gathany)

JAKARTA - United States authorities announced an increase in the supply of monkeypox vaccine by 1.8 million doses on Thursday, using the Jynneos Bavarian Nordic production, as the country's number of infections crossed 13.500.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, the figures reported on Aug. 17 are more than a third of the global total of 39.000 cases.

"It is imperative that we do all we can to prevent the spread of this dangerous virus," said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement at the White House.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is preparing 360.000 vials of the vaccine, equivalent to 1.8 million doses, to be ordered starting next week, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O'Connell said.

Meanwhile, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week allowed the administration of Jynneos Bavarian Nordic injections intradermally, between layers of the skin, increasing the usable dose by five times from the vial.

Additional doses will be available to state and local health departments that administer the vaccine intradermally, and have used up 90 percent of their current supply, said White House monkeypox response coordinator Bob Fenton.

The US is also making 50.000 courses of SIGA Technologies Inc.'s TPOXX antiviral treatment available to people who test positive, Fenton said. State and local health departments could start ordering them next week.

In addition, the US Government is also setting aside vaccine doses for areas that host large gatherings of high-risk groups. It can be ordered by state and local health departments, on top of existing allocations and supplies.

"HHS is launching a pilot program that will make up to 50.000 doses of the National Stockpile available for events with large numbers of gay and bisexual men," added Fenton.

It is known that about 98 percent of monkeypox cases nationwide occur among men, Walensky said.

Among cases with a known recent sexual history and gender, 93 percent were among men who reported recent sexual contact with another man, down from 99 percent at the end of July.

Of the more than 6,000 cases of infection in the US for which racial and ethnic data are available, about 35 percent occurred among white, non-Hispanic people, Walensky said, adding that another 28 percent occurred in blacks and 33 percent among Hispanics. The median age of the cases was 35.