Experts suggest a strategy focusing on delivering first doses of monkeypox vaccine will help stretch limited supplies amid a worsening outbreak, but officials at the CDC and FDA insist on a two-shot regimen.
BA.5, an omicron offshoot, is behind a surge of new infections in the U.S. and though hospitalizations are also rising, deaths are relatively subdued compared to earlier waves.
Experts and officials have slammed the Biden Administration’s sluggish response to monkeypox as scarce vaccine appointments fill up within minutes of becoming available in areas like New York and Washington, D.C.
The additional order will bring the total number of monkeypox vaccines in the U.S. to 7 million by mid 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.