People who received a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine in U.S. efforts to combat the disease appeared to be significantly less likely to get sick, public health officials said Wednesday, even as they urged a second dose for full protection.
Public health officials have offered public health officials a look at how the Jynneos vaccine is affecting monkeypox, a virus that is mainly spread among men who have sex with infected men.
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday that the vaccine is working as intended and that there is a level of cautious optimism that the vaccine is working as intended.
Roughly 800,000 first and second doses of the vaccine have been given across the country to people who are considered high risk for contracting the disease, according to Bob Fenton, White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator.
There is no scientifically conclusive data available to prove the effectiveness of the Jynneos vaccine against monkeypox.
But the CDC s new real-world figures show that unvaccinated men between the ages 18 and 49 who were considered eligible for the vaccine were 14 times as likely to be infected with monkeypox than those who had one dose at least two weeks earlier. The data came from 32 states for cases between July 31 and Sept. 3.
Walensky said lab studies show that the highest level of immunity from the virus is reached after people get a second dose of the vaccine, making it really important. The U.S. leads the world in monkeypox cases. More than 25,000 infections of the virus have been reported, which can cause rash, fever, body aches and chills.
The country suffered from early problems in its response, with U.S. officials struggling to distribute the vaccine after the first case was detected in May. As some cities and counties tried to stretch the limited supply this summer, they stopped offering the recommended second dose of the shot.
Now, public health officials are trying to catch up, reminding people to get their second dose. As of Sept. 17, 150,000 second doses had been administered, according to the CDC.
Walensky said providers are asking them to do outreach to get people their second doses.
Public health officials also announced on Wednesday how they can get the vaccine, and how they can get it.
The new CDC guidance is intended to reach more people who might be at risk for monkeypox exposure. The guidance makes gay, bisexual men and transgender people eligible for the vaccine if they have had more than one sexual partner in the past six months. It also allows the vaccine to be administered on the shoulder or upper back, so marks from the shot can be covered with clothing.
The number of new monkeypox cases has declined in recent weeks, but there are signs of worsening racial disparities, with Black people making up about 47 percent of new cases reported the week of Sept. 11.