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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 1.7 million men who have sex with men face the greatest threat from monkeypox right now.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters on a call Thursday that gay and bisexual men who are HIV positive or who are taking medication, called PREP, to reduce their chance of contracting HIV face the greatest risk. great health from monkey pox.
“That’s the population we’re most focused on in terms of vaccination,” Walensky said.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the US has so far provided 1.1 million doses of the Jynneos two-dose vaccine.
The federal government has delivered more than 600,000 doses of the vaccine since May, according to HHS.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Jynneos in 2019 for adults age 18 and older who are at high risk of chickenpox or monkeypox. Jynneos, made by the Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic, is the only monkeypox vaccine approved in the US.
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Walensky acknowledged last month that demand for the vaccine has outstripped supply, leading to long lines outside clinics in many cities. Sexual health clinics serving the LGBTQ community have said the vaccination campaign should be expanded to anyone they think is at risk of contracting monkeypox to bring the outbreak under control.
“What we really want to do is get to the point where we can vaccinate anyone who wants it,” said Dr. Ward Carpenter, co-director of health services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which is administering monkeypox vaccines, performing screenings and prescribing antiviral treatments.
“We’re not even close to that yet. We’re really trying to focus on the people who are most in need, most at risk. But that is not a successful public health strategy,” Carpenter said.
Monkeypox is spread primarily through skin-to-skin contact during sex between gay and bisexual men, public health officials say. About 98% of patients who provided demographic information to the clinics identified as men who have sex with men, according to the CDC.
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But public health officials have repeatedly stressed that anyone can catch the disease through physical contact with someone who has it or contaminated materials such as sheets and towels.
But as infections increase, so does the risk that the virus will begin to spread more widely. At least two children in the U.S. have contracted monkeypox, likely through transmission within their families, according to the CDC.
Source: CNBC.com
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