The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced plans to allocate an additional 786,000 doses of JYNNEOS vaccine, dramatically increasing the supply of monkeypox vaccine doses to states and jurisdictions. The additional vaccine allocation adds to the more than 340,000 doses of JYNNEOS vaccine that have already been delivered to jurisdictions. JYNNEOS vaccine is manufactured by Bavarian Nordic and approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent smallpox and monkeypox.
“Our goal is to stay ahead of this virus and end this outbreak. We have a strategy to deploy these additional vaccine doses in a way that protects those at risk and limits the spread of the virus, while also working with states to ensure equitable and fair distribution,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “These vaccines are the result of years of federal investment and planning.”
The plan for allocating the doses takes into account two key factors: the total population of at-risk people and the number of new cases in each jurisdiction. The strategy ensures that jurisdictions have the doses needed to complete the second dose of this two-dose vaccine regimen for those who have been vaccinated over the past month. Beginning Friday, July 29, states and jurisdictions can order additional vaccine doses through HHS.
“Making these additional doses of JYNNEOS available represents the latest step to support public health officials from states and jurisdictions in responding to the monkeypox outbreak,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. “These experts understand their communities and are helping to ensure equitable distribution.”
“Our vaccine allocation strategy allows us to be responsive to where we are seeing cases now and helps us stay ahead of where this outbreak might go in the future, said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “With these additional doses, more will be available for those who are most in need as we work together to contain the outbreak.”
Within days of the first reported cases in the U.S., HHS rapidly began deploying vaccines and treatments to states and jurisdictions. On June 28, HHS announced an enhanced national strategy to vaccinate and protect at-risk individuals from monkeypox infections by prioritizing JYNNEOS for areas with the highest number of cases.
In addition to vaccines, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to increase the availability of monkeypox tests nationwide by partnering with five commercial laboratories. Since the start of the current outbreak, testing capacity has increased to 80,000 per week – up from 6,000 per week. CDC has also taken action to significantly reduce the burden in accessing treatments for monkeypox, such as TPOXX, by decreasing the documentation required to prescribe TPOXX and also allowing providers to prescribe TPOXX prior to completing the documentation.
The Administration is communicating regularly with community leaders, health care providers, and stakeholders in high-risk communities to raise awareness of the steps people can take to prevent monkeypox, as well as to increase access to tests, vaccines, and treatments.
