The Biden administration has committed public health emergency officials to the fight against monkeypox. It plans to take advantage of the
move aimed at accelerating vaccine distribution amid criticism of the federal government's response.
Sits Aug. 3, 2022 Clinic in West Hollywood, Calif. | Mario Tama/Getty Images
The Biden administration and U.S. public health officials called on public health officials to hasten the distribution of the monkeypox vaccine. Planning to use emergency authorities. The problem he told POLITICO.
A decision memo prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services has been circulated among US health agencies and has received widespread support from agency heads. The memo will call monkeypox a public health emergency, according to two senior officials. Supports accelerating vaccine delivery.
Representatives for HHS and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Note that more than 6,600 monkeypox Infections have been reported in the United States, and the number has skyrocketed in the past few weeks. The rapid spread of the infection — with more than 1,200 cases reported in the last three days — has led critics and health experts to turn the White House into an aggressive push to distribute treatments and vaccines. is failing.
Shortages have been reported nationwide, especially in New York, the epicenter of the epidemic, despite the Biden administration's push to vaccinate at-risk people.
HHS announced last week that it plans to ship an additional 800,000 doses of the vaccine in the coming weeks, but health experts say the supply needed to contain the epidemic will be exceeded. is still insufficient.
On 23 July, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. California, Illinois and New York have since declared their own states of emergency.
In recent weeks, federal health officials have debated whether to declare monkeypox a public health emergency. Among the concerns was that the move, which has overwhelmingly affected men who have sex with men, could further blame the disease.
However, monkeypox LGBTQ groups focused on responding to the outbreak have expressed support for declaring the outbreak a state of emergency. And senior health officials ultimately concluded that the declaration of a state of emergency could unlock new authorities that could accelerate the distribution of monkeypox vaccines and treatments that were so far in short supply.
