According to top officials with knowledge of the strategy, the Biden administration has chosen to extend the use of its limited supply of monkeypox vaccine by approving an alternate injection technique that requires only one-fifth as much per shot.
In an effort to strengthen the U.S. response to contain the outbreak, the country declared monkeypox a public health emergency last week. According to top officials with knowledge of the strategy, the Biden administration has chosen to extend the use of its limited supply of monkeypox vaccine by approving an alternate injection technique that requires only one-fifth as much per shot.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will need to issue a new emergency declaration, according to the report, enabling regulators to use the FDA’s emergency use powers, in order for the FDA to approve the intradermal injection, which requires injecting one-fifth of the current dose into the skin instead of a full dose into underlying fat.
Recently, outbreaks of the viral disease have been detected in more than 80 non-endemic nations, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency as verified cases have surpassed 27,800 and non-endemic countries have reported their first deaths.
According to the WHO, the illness, which was first discovered in monkeys in 1958, has moderate symptoms including fever, pains, and pus-filled skin lesions and typically clears itself in two to four weeks. It is contagious and infrequently lethal, spreading by close personal contact.
