Leaders Named to Combat Monkeypox Outbreak
The U.S. President appointed today officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to coordinate the administration's response to the monkeypox outbreak in the United States.
On August 2, 2022, Robert Fenton, Region #9 Administrator at FEMA, was identified as the White House Coordinator, and Demetre Daskalakis, M.D., current director of CDC's HIV prevention division, was named the Deputy Coordinator.
"Bob Fenton and Dr. Daskalakis are proven, effective leaders that will lead a whole of government effort to implement President Biden's comprehensive monkeypox response strategy with the urgency that this outbreak warrants," said Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President, in a media statement.
As of August 1, 2022, the CDC had reported 5,811 monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases since the initial case was confirmed in Massachusetts in May 2022.
Currently, the USA leads all other countries in reporting cases.
And data sources indicate the global monkeypox outbreak has reached over 80 countries and about 24,958 individuals as of August 2, 2022.
The U.S. government has been distributing the non-replicating monkeypox vaccine Jynneos® produced by Bavarian Nordic, which the U.S. FDA licensed in September 24, 2019.
As of July 27, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response had delivered 336,710 doses of Jynneos to certain states.
To clarify the use of Jynneos, the CDC recently published Considerations for Monkeypox Vaccination.
The CDC says the immune response is maximized after 14 days from the second dose of Jynneos. Therefore, people who get vaccinated should continue to take steps to protect themselves from infection.
However, the CDC confirmed in July, 'There is minimal evidence on whether Jynneos can modify disease following exposure to this version of the monkeypox virus.'
Additional monkeypox vaccine news is posted at PrecisionVaccinations.com/Monkeypox.
Note: The information was curated for mobile readership.
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