In order to stretch scarce monkeypox vaccine supplies, health officials in New York City, Canada and the U.K. are focusing on delivering as many first doses to high-risk groups as possible.
There is a shortage of monkeypox vaccine.
Men who have sex with men at high risk of contracting the disease can receive the vaccine.
Efforts to tackle the growing outbreak are hampered by a shortage of the shots and the risk of monkeypox becoming a permanent fixture in the U.S. is high.
The urgent situation has experts and health officials wondering if a better approach would be to get as many first doses into high-risk people as quickly as possible.
In Canada and the U.K., the strategy has been used, and on Friday health officials in New York City said they would prioritize administering first doses.
Despite a longer interval between doses, the immune response to the second dose should not be affected by the decision.
The vice president of investor relations at Bavarian Nordic told Forbes that the matter is a regulatory issue and that there is data showing the second dose can wait up to two years.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration advised against the prioritized first doses. The vaccine's schedule and dose is listed on the label. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, advised against leaving from the recommended schedule at a press conference on Friday. Marks said that the FDA is familiar with the data supporting the vaccine's use and believes that one dose doesn't provide enough protection if people continue with risky behaviors. The two dose regimen is the best way to make sure that people are protected from the vaccine. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said in an interview that people need a higher level of protection than one dose will provide. The federal agencies both said the request to adhere to the vaccine's approved schedule does not amount to asking states to hold back the second dose. Dates or numbers of future vaccine shipments have not been given by officials.
In June, the federal government expanded the scope of its monkeypox vaccine drive to include people who are most at risk of getting the disease. Most cities and states are offering shots to members of this group who have multiple sexual partners or anonymous sex, as well as to those who have sex with men. Lab workers are being offered shots to help manage the outbreak. Many eligible Americans have been unable to get a shot because of the scarcity of the vaccines and a series of technological and logical mistakes. Most of the 7 million doses will not arrive for months. The vast majority of countries that have not historically reported monkeypox have had inadequate or absent testing.
The strategy of giving one dose to as many people as possible would have been better for the U.S., according to Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. The goal is to break the chain of transmission. Chin-Hong said that the longer we wait the harder it will be to contain the outbreak. The best strategy right now, according to Dr. Amesh, is to prioritize the first dose. He said that spacing vaccines the way they are on the label doesn't make a difference.
Is it difficult to find a monkeypox shot? There are severe shortages and technical problems that are slowing down the roll outs.
Many experts think the monkeypox can't be stopped.
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