US to distribute 800,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine

Doses have been withheld pending a decision from the F.D.A. review, which is now complete.

Compensating for a shortfall that has plagued the fight against monkeypox for weeks, the Food and Drug Administration announced on Wednesday that it had eliminated nearly 800,000 extra doses of vaccine for use. The Biden administration said it would announce allocations for states and jurisdictions on Thursday.

The new doses are expected to significantly increase supply in the United States, but some experts wondered if they would be enough to meet the demand. Since May, the country has confirmed 3,600 cases, among the highest tallies in the world, and the figure is almost certainly an underestimate.

Jynneos stores, the monkeypox vaccine, have been limited since the beginning of the epidemic. The vaccine is made by Bavarian Nordic, a small company in Denmark.

Although federal agencies helped develop Jynneos, the national strategic stockpile contained only a few thousand doses when the outbreak started. , and the Biden administration has moved slowly to acquire more.

US officials have now ordered nearly seven million doses, which will arrive in batches over the next few months. month. So far, the administration has shipped about 320,000 doses to the states.

The F.D.A. said Wednesday it had completed an inspection of Bavarian Nordic's manufacturing plant in Denmark earlier this month and determined that the vaccine produced there met its standards.

Given the growing need, the agency said it had "facilitated the shipment of manufactured doses" to the United States, but declined to say whether the doses had arrived in the country.

“to the monkeypox epidemic is a key priority,” Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.

“H.H.S. is working to make these doses available to states and jurisdictions as soon as possible to meet their needs and will announce allocations tomorrow,” he added.

" Hope this eases the searing anxiety that thousands of people have felt over the past few weeks,” he added.

Bavarian Nordic is under five million doses on hand, in addition to the two million it will supply to the U.S. by the end of the year.

A manufacturing plant that could do more has been closed for a planned expansion since last August.

But more vaccine doses will be needed, as several cities have expanded their criteria for monkeypox vaccination to include sex workers, patients in sexual health clinics, clinicians and other personnel who may be exposed to HIV rus at work.

Men who have sex with men comprise 99% of cases so far. The United States has identified 13 infected women, including