The administration of Joe Biden announced a new strategy on Tuesday to increase the limited supply of doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine, by changing the mode of injection of this vaccine, reported the American news site The Hill.
This new method consists of dividing the doses so that only one-fifth of the quantity of vaccine is used for each injection. This partial dose of the vaccine will be injected into the top layer of the skin, instead of injecting a full dose into the underlying fat.
“The monkeypox virus has continued to spread in recent weeks at a rate that clearly indicates that our current supply of vaccines will not meet current demand,” The Hill reported citing the commissioner’s report. US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Robert Califf, on this government initiative.
“The Joe Biden administration is scrambling to control the escalating monkeypox outbreak that has become a political as well as a public health issue. More than 8,900 cases have been reported, and experts believe this number is likely an underestimate,” the report said.
This new measure is intended to alleviate the major shortage of the Jynneos vaccine, which is the only FDA-approved vaccine against monkeypox. The administration has hundreds of thousands of doses, but it will need millions more to vaccinate the 1.6 million gay and bisexual men considered most at risk from this virus, he adds.