Day: August 18, 2022

The White House announced Thursday it will make an additional 1.8 million doses of monkeypox vaccine available for distribution beginning next week.

At a news conference, White House national monkeypox response coordinator Bob Fenton said the additional doses will be available for U.S. jurisdictions to order starting Monday, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra also took part in the news briefing.

Fenton said in the less than 10 days since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC authorized the Jynneos vaccine for emergency use against monkeypox in individuals 18 years of age and older, HHS has delivered nearly 1 million doses to U.S. states and cities, making it the largest program of its kind for monkeypox vaccine in the world.

Fenton said the additional doses are part of the National Monkeypox Response Team’s plan to address the viral disease’s outbreak in the United States and mitigate its spread.

He said HHS has been working on launching a pilot program that will provide up to 50,000 doses from the national stockpile to be made available for events that will have high attendance of gay and bisexual men.

While monkeypox is not classified as a sexually transmitted infection, or STI, it has been found to be disproportionally affecting men who have sex with men. The disease can spread through close or intimate physical contact such as hugging, kissing and sex. It can also be transmitted by touching infected items such as clothing, bedding or towels.

Fenton said the Biden administration has also significantly increased availability and convenience of monkeypox tests, expanding capacity from 6,000 tests per week to 80,000 tests per week.

Source: Voice of America

A group of World Health Organization experts is recommending COVID-19 booster shots for people at the highest risk of severe illness and death. The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization or SAGE, which met in extraordinary session August 11, issued its updated guidance Thursday.

SAGE recommends continued use of the two-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Since the vaccines’ efficacy wanes after several months, however, the group of experts advises a booster shot for everyone, beginning with those at highest risk.

This is the first time SAGE has updated its guidance on the administration of a second booster shot. Its recommendations are based on increasing evidence on the benefits of a second booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines for select groups of people.

SAGE chairman Alejandro Cravioto said the group recommends a second booster shot for people older than 55 who are considered at highest risk of developing severe disease and in need of hospitalization. He said SAGE does not advocate a second booster for the general public, for adults who are generally healthy and do not suffer from severe immunodeficiency.

“We also include persons with moderate and severe immuno-compromising conditions from, say, 6 months and above,” Cravioto said. “And that includes the children and adults with co-morbidities at higher risk of severe disease. We also include pregnant women and health workers.”

SAGE recommends a second booster be given four to six months after the administration of the first. It says healthy children and adolescents remain at low risk of severe disease from COVID-19, so there currently is no recommendation for youth groups to be vaccinated.

Cravioto, however, said SAGE has made interim recommendations for the use of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in relation to their use in children.

“In the case of both vaccines, children from 6 months to 17 years with co-morbidities should be vaccinated to avoid a higher risk in these groups of severe disease. … This includes, of course, children with Down syndrome, who we know are at the highest risk of dying of COVID if they get infected.”

The group of experts notes the recommendations are based on the current available data. They say it is not a projection into the future but relates specifically to the omicron variant of the coronavirus. It says the guidance is likely to change depending on how the pandemic evolves and new variants circulate.

Source: Voice of America