US Struggles: No Enough Monkeypox Vaccines

By Staff, Agencies 

The United States, which is forecasting an increase in monkeypox cases in the coming weeks, does not currently have enough vaccines to meet demand.

Concern has grown, especially in New York, the epicenter of the US outbreak of the virus, with nearly 390 cases counted as of July 14. The United States has seen a total of 1,470 cases.

The illness is characterized by lesions on the skin -- which can appear on the genitals or the mouth -- and is often accompanied by fever, sore throat and pain in the lymph nodes. It usually clears up on its own but can be extremely painful.

“I want to acknowledge that at this time the demand for vaccines from jurisdictions is higher than our current available supply,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], said. “And we know that this is frustrating.”

She further stated: “We don't yet have all the vaccine that we would like in this moment, warning that authorities “anticipate an increase in cases in the coming weeks.”

New York public health authorities were forced to apologize earlier this week when a government website became overwhelmed as thousands tried to log on to book vaccine appointments at once.

“Vaccine supply is extremely limited, extremely constrained, all across this country, and especially here in New York,” the head of the city's public health department Ashwin Vasan said Thursday.

In May, when the outbreak began in the United States, there were only 2,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine -- the only specifically approved against monkeypox available in the country.

Since then, 156,000 doses have been distributed nationwide. More than 130,000 doses have been added to the strategic national stockpile and are expected to start being disseminated Monday.