Category: Monkey Pox Vaccine

This week, the state ordered more than 5,000 more doses. It's already received more than 9,600 doses from the federal government.

DENVER Alex Buck first starting looking for a monkeypox vaccine weeks ago.

Ive been trying to get one for a while, he said.

I remember back in early July, there were [very few] in Colorado and a friend mentioned they got one, I looked into it and it was still too late.

He kept searching, and finally secured an appointment this week.

I've been kind of Googling it every few days, like, Do we have more? Can I get more? And I just kind of stumbled onto the Jefferson County Public Health website and they had a phone number you can call to say Call us for monkeypox vax appointments. I called, they asked a few questions, and got me in today. So it worked out really well.

Buck said the shot was pretty easy, especially compared to getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

No symptoms yet, Im waiting with bated breath, he said.

It was a small needle, in the underarm, it was actually really quick and painless, which I was very grateful for.

Monkeypox can affect anyone.

During this current outbreak, most cases have been among men who have sex with men. That population, or anyone who is a close contact to a positive case, are the only ones eligible for the very limited vaccine supply.

Alex shared a photo of himself after his vaccine on social media, hoping to encourage other members of his LGBTQ community to consider getting vaccinated, too.

I felt like I needed to get it because I am in the pool that is eligible, and I want to make sure I can live my life without a.) being worried about it and b.) knowing that Im safe from it, and any partners I have are safe from it, he said.

I felt that responsibility for it, that I'm being responsible for my health and others.

On Thursday, the Biden Administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency in the United States. Cases have topped 6,600 nationwide. Colorado reports a total of 79 cases.

In an email Thursday, state leaders said Colorado had already received 9,665 doses from the federal government. Those doses represent vaccines already administered, scheduled to be administered, or in the process of redistribution to other providers.

The state placed its latest order with the feds for another 5,080 doses on Aug. 1.

For me and a lot of my friends, were tired, Buck said with a brief laugh. Its hard to have to deal with COVID, thats around, it hasnt gone anywhere. Theres just so many layers to it. With COVID I was really excited about the vaccine Im happy to get the monkeypox vaccine but Im a lot more like, sigh. More drama.

For others who may be eligible for the vaccine and considering it, Buck offers this:

Keep an eye out on good information. You do have to do some of your own research, at least that I found. But it's worth it, it was really easy. Anything we can do to keep people safe and keep ourselves healthy is worth it in my opinion.

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What it's like to get the monkeypox vaccine in Colorado - 9News.com KUSA

As monkeypox numbers continue to climb, many of us are wondering how to respond to the outbreak and be prepared in case of infection.

So, who is most at risk? People who have numerous sexual partners are most likely to become infected. As of now, the virus has mostly affected men who have sex with men, but monkeypox can spread to anyone who has direct or intimate contact with someone infected.

There are two vaccines available in the U.S. These include:

The preferred vaccine is Jynneos (imvamune, imvanex), which is live but non-replicating, so it cannot cause infection and is safe to use in immunocompromised people and during pregnancy, Dr. Geoffrey Rutledge, Chief Medical Officer and Founder of HealthTap, explains. Unfortunately, this vaccine is in short supply. Its use and eligibility for getting it are determined in each region by the local public health authority.

This is a live virus vaccine that causes a very mild infection that prevents monkeypox. It is not recommended for people who are pregnant or who have weakened immune systems. After vaccination, the person may be able to transmit the vaccine virus to others, including to pregnant women or those who have weakened immune systems, says Dr. Rutledge.

Related: What Is Monkeypox, and How Worried Should We Be? Here's What Doctors Say

To schedule an appointment for the vaccine, you can contact your local or state health department. However, distribution is limited at this time. To be eligible for the vaccine you must meet the following criteria:

People who have been identified by public health officials as a contact of someone with monkeypox

People who may have been exposed to monkeypox, which includes:

One of your sexual partners in the past two weeks has been diagnosed with monkeypox

Having numerous sexual partners in the past two weeks in a location with known monkeypox cases.

The vaccine will be effective even after exposure, so health officials advise getting vaccinated within four days of the date of exposure to reduce the risk of infection.

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"Vaccination is most important for people with a known exposure to monkeypoxvaccination within four days of exposure will prevent the disease, says Dr. Rutledge. From five days to two weeks after exposure, vaccination will reduce the severity of the illness. Vaccination is also recommended for people who are at high risk of exposure to monkeypoxpeople who have multiple sexual partners, particularly if they are in an area of the country where there are more cases, as well as healthcare workers who may come in contact with monkeypox patients or who are delivering the live attenuated vaccine (ACAM200)."

Next up: Doctors Explain These Are the First Symptoms of Monkeypox to Look Out For

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Do You Need the Monkeypox Vaccine? - Yahoo Life

The vaccine rollout for monkeypox is expanding, meaning that more people can be eligible to receive a vaccine for monkeypox.

However, there are still eligibility limits as to who can get a vaccine. Heres what you need to know.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines published by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH), New Jersey residents are eligible to receive monkeypox vaccinations, if they:

For now, it is up to state and local health departments to distribute the monkeypox vaccines to the public.

Currently, you can get monkeypox vaccines in New Jersey and other states by contacting your nearest health department, which will most likely be at the city or county level.

Gov. Phil Murphy recently announced two monkeypox vaccination sites in Bergen and Camden counties, in addition to three sites in Newark, Asbury Park and Jersey City.

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Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at krodriguez@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.

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Monkeypox vaccines: Who is eligible for one in N.J.? Heres what you need to know - NJ.com

Health officials around the world are racing to curb an outbreak of monkeypox cases that has swelled into the thousands, deploying both vaccines and treatments to fight a disease that can lead to weeks of painful rashes and lesions for those infected. On Aug. 4, the Biden administrationdeclared a public health emergencyto help ramp up the federal response.

Some citiesfacing outbreaks have now declared emergencies to battle the virus, as well as the states of New York, Illinoisand California.

The White House announced on Aug. 2that it's tapping two officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate the "whole-of-government response" to the outbreak.

While monkeypox infections have been seen before in the U.S. in two travelers from Nigeria last year and in 47 cases that were linked to imported animals back in 2003 the current outbreak is by far the largest recorded in American history and is expected to continue to grow.

Here's what's known about the monkeypox outbreak and response:

Over 7,100 cases were tallied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention across all but two states Montana and Wyoming as of Aug. 4.

New York is the state with the largest total number of reported cases, making up close to a quarter of the nation's overall tally.

Officials say the "vast majority" of cases in the current outbreak have spread among men who have sex with men so far, generally through skin-to-skin intimate contact or by sharing contaminated towels and bedding.

A handful of cases have also been reported in young children and pregnant women, who are believed to be at higher risk of severe outcomes from the disease.

However, the CDC says it has demographic data only a fraction of reported cases. Unlike its counterparts abroad in places like the United Kingdom and Europe, the agency must rely on details collected and reported "voluntarily" to the agency by local health departments.

As of Aug. 1, no deaths have been reported in the outbreak so far in the U.S. among the thousands who have been infected by monkeypox. A handful of deaths have been reported abroad, including in Africa, South America, and Europe.

Compared to its more lethal cousin smallpox, officials have said that cases often resolve after a few weeks without additional treatment. The variant linked to the current outbreak has been spreading in Nigeria since 2017, where around 3% of the people who contracted monkeypox died.

After an incubation period, which the CDC estimates is a little longer than a week on average, between exposure to an infected person and the first noticeable signs of the infection, patients generally must endure painful lesions as well as other symptoms like fever and swollen lymph nodes until their rashes scab over and heal. Like other poxviruses, monkeypox can leave scars.

However, authorities have been careful not to downplay the danger monkeypox's complications might pose beyond its physical pain.

For example, in the United Kingdom, authorities reported that some hospitalized patients faced "severe swelling" that might strangle circulation to the penis. In Spain, some patients were hospitalized due to bacterial infections of their sores.

The CDC says that the patients who are at "especially increased risk" for severe monkeypox disease include:

The agency also says that people living with HIV who have caught monkeypox during the current outbreak are not getting a more severe disease, as long as they are on treatment that is suppressing HIV.

Monkeypox cases to date in the U.S. have been diagnosed using CDC's lab test, which can tell whether someone is infected by an orthopoxvirus the family of bugs that includes both monkeypox and others like smallpox.

Those tests rely on doctors "vigorously" swabbing suspected lesions for samples that can be sent off to their state's public health labs that have launched the agency's test, as well as a growing number of commercial laboratories.

Some labs have also raced to develop their own tests for suspected monkeypox cases, including via saliva or blood samples, though the Food and Drug Administration currently warns these methods "may lead to false test results."

"We are actively doing studies to evaluate what other kinds of tests could be available, whether they are saliva tests, throat swabs, blood tests, but right now, we don't have the data to recommend using tests of those kinds," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters on July 15.

The Biden administration has deployed two vaccines, originally stockpiled by the country to prepare for a potential smallpox emergency, known as Jynneos and ACAM2000.

Both rely on versions of less-deadly relatives of smallpox to immunize their recipients. But unlike ACAM2000, Bavarian Nordic's Jynneos vaccine which was approved by the FDA in 2019 to specifically combat monkeypox as well carries far fewer risks because it relies on a version of the virus modified to prevent it from replicating and reduce its severity.

Before the current outbreak, the U.S. had contracted Bavarian Nordic to manufacture "bulk vaccine" worth some 13 million doses of the company's Jynneos shots. The administration has now ordered some 7 million doses of that vaccine to be filled into vials and shipped to them from Bavarian Nordic through mid-2023.

For now, federal officials have acknowledged that demand for the Jynneos far outstrips supply for the shots. Doses are being rationed for vaccinated either known close contacts of cases or others "presumed" to be at risk of having come into contact with a case, like having multiple recent sexual partners in a jurisdiction facing an outbreak.

Some jurisdictions have announced plans to try and stretch their supply relying on only offering one dose for now of the two-shot vaccine, despite the FDA discouraging the move.

More than 736,000 additional doses were made available for states on July 29, after an FDA inspection cleared use of a tranche of vaccine that had already been filled into vials from Bavarian Nordic.

Further waves of vaccinations will need to wait for doses the Biden administration ordered filled into vials back in June, which the company says it expects will be delivered by the end of the year.

The company also says it has supplied "nearly 30 million doses" of vaccine in the past, which have now expired. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said on August 2 in a statement that it was working with Bavarian Nordic to test those doses to see if they can be salvaged, but acknowledged it was "highly unlikely that these doses remain viable."

Children are not currently FDA approved to be vaccinated with Jynneos, although CDC officials disclosed earlier this year to a panel of its outside vaccine advisers that at least one pediatric patient had been offered a shot. Agency officials and local health systems have since confirmed other children who were close contacts of monkeypox cases have also been offered shots.

Spokespeople for the FDA and CDC have declined to confirm how many requests have been granted for the use of the vaccine in children.

A spokesperson for Bavarian Nordic declined to offer details about whether it planned to trial the vaccine in children, but did say it planned to collect data on CDC's use of the shots.

While people in the current outbreak are now being vaccinated with vaccines initially designed to combat smallpox, like ACAM200 or Jynneos, officials have cautioned that Americans who were vaccinated for smallpox decades ago are unlikely to be protected from a monkeypox infection.

Though the U.S. stopped routine mass vaccination against smallpox in 1972, the CDC still recommends that scientists who are at risk of exposure because they work with orthopoxviruses including monkeypox in the lab get revaccinated every three years.

In the current outbreak, the CDC says some cases had been vaccinated against smallpox "decades prior." And in the 2003 outbreak, CDC researchers did not find evidence that previous smallpox vaccination among those infected reduced the odds of patients facing severe disease or being hospitalized.

"We do expect that people who have received the vaccine, even as children, will have some remaining immunity. But that is something that we're very interested in looking at, closely monitoring during this outbreak, to really define exactly how long that protection lasts and how much benefit people who have received vaccination many decades prior may still receive," said the CDC's Brett Petersen said on June 30, in a webinar with clinicians.

While many monkeypox cases eventually resolve without medications, aside from pain relievers, the Biden administration has allowed doctors to request stockpiled coursesof several treatments that have been developed in the past for smallpox.

The most commonly requested of those drugs is the antiviral tecovirimator TPOXX, which was developed out of federal research launched in 2002 to head off a potential bioterrorism attack. The FDA approved tecovirimat in 2018 to treat smallpox cases. However, that approval was in large part actually based on studies in animals infected with monkeypox and rabbitpox, with the regulator deeming it "not feasible or ethical to conduct efficacy trials in humans" for smallpox.

Doctors looking to get courses of tecovirimat for their monkeypox patients must request them from the CDC under an "expanded access" protocol, which it recently worked with the FDA to streamline.

The agency says that use of the drug is being considered for people with severe disease, or who have an additional risk factor such as a compromised immune system or lesions in a part of the body that "might constitute a special hazard" like on the genitals.

While health officials expect the number of monkeypox cases to continue to climb through at least August, authorities say they still hope to control the current outbreak.

"There is community spread occurring. And while public health officials are working around the clock to contain the outbreak, it's important to say that I think we expect that these numbers will continue to increase," the CDC's Jennifer McQuiston told a webinar hosted by the American Medical Association on July 14.

However, with more than 13,000 cases in the outbreak around the world as of July 18, some experts are skeptical public health authorities will be able to stem the spread of the virus.

"I think at this point, we've failed to contain this. We're now at the cusp of this becoming an endemic virus, where this now becomes something that's persistent that we need to continue to deal with," former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told "Face the Nation" on July 17.

"This has spread more broadly in the community. I wouldn't be surprised if there's thousands of cases right now," Gottlieb added later.

CBS News reporter covering public health and the pandemic.

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Monkeypox: What we know about the outbreak, vaccinations and treatments - CBS News

ANDERSON The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) is now offering the monkeypox vaccine to those that have been exposed to the illness or are at high-risk for exposure or severe illness. Hoosiers that are eligible can receive the JYNNEOS vaccine, which contains a live virus that does not replicate efficiently in human cells and is administered in two subcutaneous doses 28 days apart, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website.

As of Tuesday, the CDC reported 58 confirmed cases in Indiana. IDOH is only distributing the vaccine for both Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) because a minimal amount of doses have been allocated to the state, according to its website.

PEP vaccines must be administered within four days of exposure to prevent the onset of monkeypox, and those who receive it 4 to 14 days after exposure may reduce symptoms but may not prevent illness. IDOH will expand vaccine eligibility to high risk groups once more vaccines have been allocated.

IDOH is currently reporting cases on a statewide basis and not by county in order to protect the identity of those that have contracted the illness, Madison County Health Department administrator Stephanie Mellinger said. The county health department has been assisting with case investigations in several counties, as well as implementing a plan that includes communicating with hospitals and clinics to help those in the county that may have been exposed or contracted monkeypox.

The state health department has passed down guidelines, and weve been sharing them and discussing them with all of our healthcare partners, Mellinger said. We have been in contact this entire time and making sure that we all understand that if we need to refer someone to get tested somewhere, that we alert that agency ahead of time, so that there isnt any further contamination.

The vaccine doses that have been received by the county health department last week are not issued for use by the general public and are only offered to those at high risk for transmission from a known case, Mellinger said. The federal government is currently working on making more doses available.

I dont know how quickly those extra doses will come. I dont know what that will look like, Mellinger said. If we can contain the virus prior to needing a situation where its available to the general public or necessary, its my hope that we can get on top of it before it gets to that point.

Anyone can contract monkeypox regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, but current trends show that many of those affected in the outbreak are men who have sex with other men, as well as those living with HIV, according to the CDC website. CEO and President of the Damien Center Alan Witchey thinks those groups are more affected by the virus because a predomanance of gay men who are living with HIV and compromised immune systems are more likely to contract the illness.

The Damien Center is currently offering vaccination for men that engage in sexual activity with other men and people living with HIV, but may expand to people that are using PrEP prevention strategies for HIV. And while monkeypox can be spread through sexual activity because of skin-to-skin contact, Witchey said it is important to differentiate that it is not a sexually transmitted disease.

People can give it to their kids, they can give it to their roommates, they can give it to their family members, Witchey said. At this time, if you think youve been exposed, you definitely want to be careful. If youre engaging in ongoing behaviors where youre having skin to skin contact with somebody, you probably want to consider getting vaccinated.

For those that are concerned about contracting monkeypox, Mellinger said the most important way to prevent the illness is to wash your hands. The main symptom of the disease is a rash that looks like pimples or blisters that can appear on the face and other parts of the body, including inside the mouth.

Be mindful of any sores that may look like that. If anyone has any sores that look like that, please go to a health care provider to be tested, Mellinger said. If you happen to see anyone or know anyone who has sores like that, wash your hands, avoid contact with those sores.

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Monkeypox vaccine available to those that may be at risk - The Herald Bulletin

As cases reach 10,000 in the Region, Member States hold Special Session of the PAHO Directing Council to discuss best use of limited global vaccine supplies.

Washington D.C. 5 August 2022 (PAHO) As monkeypox cases continue to rise in several countries of the Americas, Member States of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) today held a Special Session of the Directing Council to consider a Resolution to address the outbreak, including supporting equitable access to vaccines for at-risk populations in the region.

On 23 July 2022, the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak, which began in mid-May and has affected 89 countries across all six WHO regions, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

Over 10,000 monkeypox infections have been reported by 24 countries of the Americas since the start of the outbreak. This accounts for 38% of global cases.

The PHEIC declaration came with detailed recommendations for both countries and territories who havent detected any cases as well as for those who already have imported cases or transmission in their communities, said PAHO Director, Carissa Etienne.

We believe that when the recommended measures are appropriately implemented, we can stop transmission of the monkeypox virus.

These recommendations, which PAHO is working with Member States to implement, include communication and engagement with affected communities, early detection and surveillance, treatment and isolation of patients, and contact tracing.

However, post- or pre-exposure vaccination might need to complement the other measures, the Director added.

During the session, Dr. Etienne noted that there is currently only one third-generation vaccine for monkeypox, which is produced by just one manufacturer.

While supplies of this vaccine are extremely limited, PAHO has engaged in early negotiations with its manufacturer.

In light of this, the Resolution adopted requests PAHOs Director to facilitate a coordinated response and take steps to support Member States in obtaining access to this vaccine through the PAHO Revolving Fund. It also requests that countries of the Region of the Americas continue to recognize PAHO and its Revolving Fund as the strategic regional technical mechanism most suitable for providing equitable access to this vaccine and others.

The recommendations of PAHOs Technical Advisory Group on Vaccine Preventable Diseases, as well as those of the Emergency Committee of the International Health Regulations, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), stipulate that countries should prioritize vaccines for specific groups, such as close contacts of a confirmed monkeypox case, in order to maximize impact considering the limited vaccine supply.

Monkeypox diseaseMonkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus. Symptoms include fever, intense headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle ache, and a rash that blisters and crusts. The rash tends to be concentrated on the face, palms of the hands and soles of the feet. The mouth, genitals, and eyes may also be affected.

The symptoms can be mild or severe, and generally last for several weeks during which time a person can be infectious to others. Most people recover within a few weeks without treatment.

Monkeypox disease is reported regularly in nine countries of Central and West Africa since it was first recognized in 1958 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, since mid-May 2022, an increasing number of monkeypox cases have been reported first in multiple countries in Europe and later in other regions, including the Americas.

As of 5 August 2022, 37,360 probable and laboratory-confirmed cases were reported to the WHO from 89 countries across all six WHO regions.

Note to journalists: With updated number of cases as of 7:30 pm EDT, August 5.

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Countries approve resolution to support access to monkeypox vaccine in the Americas - World - ReliefWeb