ANP Productions | Bron: ANP
Washington
The US government will distribute 296,000 doses of monkeypox vaccines from the national stock to the population in the coming weeks. The vaccines are assigned to both states and territories, such as Guam and Puerto Rico. The breakdown is based on population size and “risk of serious disease,” US health officials said.
Of the doses, 56,000 will be assigned immediately, with the rest to follow in the coming weeks. These are vaccines of the Jynneos type. Those can be offered to people who “may have been exposed”. Until recently, vaccines against monkeypox in the US were only available to people who had been shown to have been exposed to the virus. By the end of the year, even 1.6 million doses should be available.
The United States has so far registered 306 cases of monkeypox, a viral infection linked to smallpox that causes painful skin lesions. Although the virus is endemic to parts of Africa, the current outbreak has affected countries where the virus does not usually spread. As a result, there are fears that it could become more widespread.