What You Need To Know About The Monkeypox Vaccine Rollout
Hundreds of monkeypox cases have been identified in the US, here's everything you need to know about the vaccine rollout.
This article is more than 2 years old
Amidst the ongoing pandemic, another viral concern has popped up. Monkeypox, a new problem for the US, has had cases increase in many states from the east to the west. Now, the Biden Administration is set to release thousands of Monkeypox vaccines to limit the spread.
Top federal health officials, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, stated that the Biden Administration is working on curbing the new viral spread. One of those ways is to expand Monkeypox vaccines’ accessibility in various parts of the country. Since the US has had two or more years to figure out how to roll out COVID vaccines, hopefully, the administration is primed and ready to curtail this next viral epidemic.
Department of Health and Human Services is ready to rollout 296,000 doses available in the coming weeks of the Monkeypox vaccines. About 50,000 doses will be available this week for those who need to get inoculated in the US. By the end of the year, the Biden Administration hopes to have a total of 1.6 million doses available in the country. The Monkeypox vaccine, scientifically known as the JYNNEOS vaccine, will have two separate shots similar to the COVID one. After you receive the primary dose, you’ll be able to get the second one 28 days following the first.
Fortunately, there have been no reported deaths from Monkeypox in the United States. Though the outcomes haven’t been severe, the federal government is working to curtail the spread immediately to avoid further dangerous complications. There are already 300 confirmed cases of Monkeypox in the United States, the fourth country to identify instances after the first Monkeypox infection popped up in the Democratic Republic of Congo. For years, the virus has been isolated on the continent of Africa but began spreading outside of the content in early 2022. Now, the US government is racing to release a large number of Monkeypox vaccines to reduce the spread in time.
What do scientists know about the elusive Monkeypox? For starters, the virus spreads through skin-to-skin contact or contact with infected fluids. This could mean touching or being exposed to someone’s rash or sharing drinks with a contagious person. Health officials have also notified the public that many of these cases have been spread through sexual contact. A lack of proper testing has left many people vulnerable to the virus, though no one has had severe or life-threatening symptoms from Monkeypox in the US yet. While the vaccines begin to roll out in the country, researchers are still finding more answers to how the virus spreads.
Though scientists know that Monkeypox can infect people through intimate contact, many questions remain about the virus’s transmission. Researchers are looking into vaginal fluids and semen to see if those are conducive substances for Monkeypox travel. Scientists are also looking into the possibility of the virus spreading through asymptomatic people, similar to how COVID spreads. As the Monkeypox vaccines begin to release via the Biden Administration, researchers continue to investigate the mysterious virus and how best to protect oneself from infection.
