US declares monkeypox emergency, free up funds
On July 27, 2022, people wait in line to receive the monkeypox vaccine at the Balboa Sports Center in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. ROBYN BECK AFP The United States has declared monkeypox a public health emergency, and will free up additional funding and tools to fight the disease, the health secretary said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the US tally topped 6,600, nearly all of the cases among men who have sex with men.
We are prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this disease, and we urge everyone to take monkeypox seriously, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at a briefing.
The declaration will improve availability of data on monkeypox infections, which is needed for the response, said Rochelle Walensky, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, who spoke alongside Bacerra.
The US government has come under pressure due to its handling of the outbreak.
The disease started in Europe before it spread to the United States, which now has the most cases in the world. Vaccines and treatments have been in short supply and the disease is often left for historically underfunded sexual health clinics to manage. The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, its highest alert level. There was a WHO declaration last month that wanted to spark a coordinated international response and unlock funding to collaborate on vaccines and treatments.
Governments are deploying vaccines and treatments that were approved for smallpox, but also for monkeypox.
The US government has distributed 600,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic's Jynneos vaccine and distributed 14,000 of Siga Technologies' TPOXX treatment, officials said, though they did not disclose how many have been administered.
Walensky said the government aims to vaccinate more than 1.6 million high-risk individuals.
The US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said the agency was considering giving more Jynneos vaccine doses by allowing doctors to draw 5 doses of vaccine from each vial instead of the current 1 dose by using a different subcutaneous method of inoculation.
ALSO READ: S'pore: Mass vaccination against monkeypox not recommended.
Two federal officials have been appointed by President Joe Biden this month to coordinate his administration's response to monkeypox, following declarations of emergencies by California, Illinois and New York. The disease, which was first identified in monkeys in 1958, has mild symptoms, including fever, aches and pus-filled skin lesions, and people tend to recover from it within two to four weeks, the WHO says. It is rarely fatal and spreads through close physical contact.
Anthony Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser, told Reuters on Thursday that it was critical to engage leaders from the gay community as part of efforts to rein in the outbreak, but cautioned against stigmatizing the lifestyle.
Fauci said that community engagement has proven to be successful.