WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of delays, nearly 800,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine will soon be available for distribution, U.S. health regulators said Wednesday.
The announcement came amid growing criticism that authorities have not acted quickly enough to make the vaccine available, possibly missing out on an opportunity to contain what could soon become an entrenched infectious disease.
Nearly two weeks ago, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it had completed necessary inspections of Bavarian Nordic’s facility in Denmark, where the company fills vials of the vaccine. The agency reported Wednesday on Twitter that the certification has been finalized. The doses are already in the United States, “so they would be ready for distribution once the manufacturing changes have been approved,” the FDA said.
The United States has already shipped more than 310,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine, which requires two shots, to state and local health departments. But clinics in San Francisco, New York and other cities say they still don’t have enough vaccine to keep up with demand.
The head of the Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that authorities would release more allocations on Thursday.
San Francisco Department of Health officials welcomed the news, saying they need several thousand more doses than the 7,800 they have received so far. “Without the necessary supply of vaccines, we would struggle to fulfill our basic duty to keep our communities safe,” the agency said in a statement.
Officials in Washington, DC, indicated Wednesday that they would join their counterparts in San Francisco, New York and other cities that have stopped scheduling appointments for a second dose of the vaccine due to dose shortages. They noted that the one-shot strategy would allow them to “vaccinate more people at risk and slow the spread of monkeypox in the community.”
The monkeypox virus spreads primarily through skin-to-skin contact, but it can also be transmitted through contact with the bedding of someone who is infected. The vast majority of reported cases have been among men who have had sex with other men, although health authorities have stressed that anyone can become infected.
People with monkeypox may experience fever, body aches, chills, and fatigue. Many people have developed sores on various parts of the body.
