As the number of monkeypox cases climbs amid an ongoing global outbreak, US health officials said Friday that they are ramping up testing and contact tracing and expanding access to vaccines and treatments.
As part of those efforts, about 1,200 doses of vaccine for monkeypox have been offered in the United States, said Dr. Raj Panjabi, White House senior director for global health security and biodefense.
“We want to ensure that people with high-risk exposures have rapid access to vaccines and, if they become sick, can receive appropriate treatment. To date, we’ve delivered around 1,200 vaccines,” Panjabi said. “And 100 treatment courses to eight jurisdictions, and we have more to offer states.”
Health care workers in Massachusetts treating monkeypox patients were among the first to receive vaccinations to protect them against the virus.
In the United States, the two-dose Jynneos vaccine is licensed to prevent smallpox and specifically to prevent monkeypox. Another smallpox vaccine licensed in the United States, ACAM2000, can also be used for monkeypox.
To date, more than 120 PCR orthopox tests have been performed across the United States as part of monitoring the outbreak.
“This is just a fraction of what’s available,” Panjabi said, adding that 67 labs across 46 states — part of a network known as the Laboratory Response Network — have the “collective ability” to perform more than 1,000 tests per day.
“So what we’re working on now is to ensure that that testing capacity is used,” he said. People with monkeypox symptoms are encouraged to see a health care provider, and providers are urged to test if they suspect that someone might have monkeypox.