Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House Advances Monkeypox Vaccine Efforts
Axios: White House Expands Monkeypox Vaccine Eligibility
Federal officials on Tuesday urged anyone potentially exposed to a confirmed case of monkeypox in the last two weeks to get vaccinated, in hopes of slowing an outbreak that's grown to more than 300 confirmed cases in the United States. Days after some local jurisdictions, like New York City, deployed their own vaccination strategies and ran out of shots, the federal government has committed to distributing 56,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine immediately to jurisdictions where outbreaks are the most severe. (Dreher, 6/28)
NPR: The U.S. To Offer Nearly 300,000 Doses Of Monkeypox Vaccine In Coming Weeks
The Biden administration announced an "enhanced nationwide vaccination strategy" to curb the spread of monkeypox in the U.S. In a call with reporters on Tuesday, top federal health officials — including director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky and Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator — laid out the administration's plan to expand the availability of a vaccine for monkeypox. The Department of Health and Human Services will make 296,000 doses available in the coming weeks — within that amount, 56,000 doses will be made available immediately — and expects a total of 1.6 million doses to be available in the U.S. by the end of the year. The vaccine being distributed is the JYNNEOS vaccine, which is administered in two doses given 28 days apart. (Stone, 6/28)
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CIDRAP: CDC Opens Monkeypox Center As Europe Begins Vaccinations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to better address the monkeypox outbreak. "CDC's activation of the EOC allows the agency to further increase operational support for the response to meet the outbreak’s evolving challenges. It is home to more than 300 CDC staff working in collaboration with local, national, and international response partners on public health challenges," the CDC said in a press release. (Soucheray, 6/28)
Fox News: WHO Says Monkeypox Risk Assessed As ‘Moderate'
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that the international monkeypox virus outbreak is assessed as "moderate" – even as the agency noted the actual number of cases "is likely to be underestimated." The United Nations (UN) health agency said in a release that, since June 22. 2022, there have been more than 3,400 laboratory-confirmed cases and one death reported to WHO from 50 countries and territories. The majority of those cases were reported from the WHO European Region, with the region of the Americas making up 11%. (Musto, 6/28)
KHN: What You Need To Know About Monkeypox
The World Health Organization said June 25 that monkeypox wasn’t yet a public health emergency of international concern. More than 4,500 cases have been reported worldwide, with more than 300 in the U.S. And with public health officials unable to follow all chains of transmission, they’re likely undercounting cases. Everyone should be aware of its symptoms, how it spreads, and the risks of it getting worse. (Gounder, 6/29)
