HHS orders additional vaccine, increases testing capacity to respond to monkeypox outbreak
Government orders 2.5 million more JYNNEOS doses, makes additional 131,000 doses available immediately to states and jurisdictions
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today placed an order for another 2.5 million doses of Bavarian Nordic’s JYNNEOS vaccine to respond to the current monkeypox outbreak and strengthen the country’s smallpox preparedness. This order follows a July 1 order for 2.5 million doses that will begin arriving in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) over the next year.
Deliveries from today’s 2.5 million dose order will begin arriving at the SNS in 2023, bringing the federal government’s available supply of vaccine to treat monkeypox to nearly 7 million doses by mid-2023.
HHS also announced that an additional 131,000 doses of JYNNEOS just arrived in the SNS and the department is making these doses immediately available to states and jurisdictions. This latest allocation of vaccine brings the total number of doses made available to states and jurisdictions since late May to more than 300,000 doses.
HHS has shipped out all of the doses that have been ordered by states and jurisdictions, approximately 156,000 doses, with about 100,000 doses of those delivered in the past week.
Today’s announcements are part of the Biden Administration’s comprehensive strategy to combat the monkeypox virus, through scaling production and distribution of vaccines, to making testing more available and convenient, to engaging with local health departments and trusted messengers in communities most impacted by the virus.
“We continue to do everything we can to ramp up supply of vaccines and distribute them to those in need as quickly and equitably as possible,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. “Our strategy is to secure additional doses for the near-term while also making sure we have a steady supply in the weeks and months to come.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also recently announced that it has completed its inspection of the Bavarian Nordic manufacturing facility in Denmark. Observations from inspections inform FDA’s evaluation of other quality information submitted by sponsors, which are critical to helping ensure vaccines’ safety and effectiveness. Doses from the facility can potentially be approved by the end of July, which would mean that approximately 780,000 additional doses would be added to the government’s available supply.
In addition to vaccines, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to increase the availability of monkeypox tests nationwide by partnering with five commercial testing companies. Since the start of the current outbreak, testing capacity has increased to 70,000 per week – up from 6,000.
“At CDC, we continue to work closely with the community, public health partners, and clinicians to increase awareness about the current monkeypox outbreak,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. “We have expanded the nation’s monkeypox testing capacity and now have four commercial laboratories whose combined capabilities have increased testing capacity from 6,000 specimens a week to 70,000. The ability to increase testing capacity and improve access will provide the nation a better understanding of the outbreak and help us fight it.”
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 the monkeypox, as well as to increase access to tests, vaccines, and treatments.
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