The US will provide 50,000 monkeypox vaccine doses to be administered at Pride and other events with high attendance by gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
How many are sent to each event will be determined by a number of factors, including the size of it, availability of health workers to give the injections and how many people there are considered to be at high risk of catching monkeypox.
“More shots in arms is how we get the outbreak under control,” Bob Fenton, the White House monkeypox response coordinator, said on 18 August, adding that it was an attempt to “meet people where they are.”
The US is predominantly administering the Jynneous vaccine, which is given in two doses 28 days apart.
The maximum immune response is achieved two weeks after the second dose.
“I want to emphasise that while we are offering the vaccine at these events to those at high risk, this is a two-dose vaccine series and receiving the vaccine at these events will not provide protection at the event itself,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since the outbreak began in May, the US has delivered more than one million doses of the vaccine.
The country has reported more than 13,500 cases of monkeypox to date, with 98% of infections reported to be in men.
“Specifically we’re asking for plans for how the education will happen, how we can do more outreach in some cases, whether we can make testing available, how we can make vaccine available,” Walensky added.
You can find resources to learn more about monkeypox by clicking here.
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