US: HHS Expands Its Monkeypox Vaccine Plan

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced, the government of the United States plans an enhanced nationwide vaccination strategy for the purpose of fighting the Monkeypox disease.

The HHS department, said the strategy will protect and vaccinate those people, who are at-risk of contracting Monkeypox and will prioritize vaccines for areas with high numbers of Monkeypox cases and will also provide guidance to local, tribal, territorial and state health officials to aide their planning and response efforts.

The HHS is going to make around 300,000 doses of Monkeypox vaccine available within weeks, including 56,000 doses available immediately, and up to 1.6 million doses of Monkeypox vaccine should be made available in the United States in 2022. The Monkeypox vaccine will be given in two doses 28 days apart.

In the United States, over 300 cases of Monkeypox disease have been confirmed in the current outbreak, and according to the reports, the Monkeypox outbreak is much bigger than expected.

The Monkeypox vaccine is recommended for people, who are at high risk after getting exposed to confirmed Monkeypox patients. This includes people who have had close physical contact with someone who had been diagnosed with the Monkeypox Disease, including gay and bisexual men.

Rochelle Walensky, MD, Director of US CDC said, they are focused on ensuring the public and health care providers are aware of the risks posed by Monkeypox and also there are steps people can take to avoid the disease through seeking testing, treatments and vaccines.