Monkeypox

The Washington Post reports: The manufacturer of the only vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration to protect against monkeypox privately warned senior Biden health officials about their plan to split doses and change how the shots are delivered. “We do have some reservations … due to the very limited safety data available,” Bavarian Nordic CEO Paul Chaplin wrote …

Politico reports: The Florida Department of Health counted 985 people infected by the monkeypox virus as of Tuesday, marking a jump from the 525 infections reported by Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo one week ago. The agency also ordered the full 72,000 vaccine doses allocated by HHS. The HHS allocation is not enough to keep up with the outbreak of …

The Washington Post reports: Biden administration officials are set to announce Tuesday a new strategy to split monkeypox vaccine doses in hopes of vaccinating up to five times as many people against the virus, according to officials with direct knowledge of the plan. Rather than inject doses of Jynneos subcutaneously, a traditional way of delivering vaccines into the fatty tissue …

New York City’s Fox affiliate reports: New York City is doubling the capacity to administer monkeypox vaccine shots as five new vaccine clinics are opening. The city also announced that it plans to open a clinic in the heart of Times Square in Manhattan. The move comes as the federal government declared a public health emergency. 79,000 doses have been …

Axios reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated guidance Friday recommending that people limit their sexual partners while waiting to get vaccinated against monkeypox. While monkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted disease, it is often transmitted through “close, sustained physical contact, which can include sexual contact,” the CDC said. Infections are overwhelmingly among men who have …

The Louisiana Illuminator reports: Southern Decadence, advertised as the largest LGBTQ+ festival held annually in the Deep South, is scheduled for Labor Day weekend (Sept. 1-5) in New Orleans. It typically attracts 100,000 to 300,000 participants and is a major economic boon to the city in a season when tourism is otherwise sluggish. Health officials at the state and local …

ABC News reports: Amid growing concerns over the potential threat of monkeypox, executives from Moderna said Wednesday they have initiated a research program to consider whether the company could create a monkeypox vaccine with mRNA technology. “We’re obviously very aware of the monkeypox concern and obviously very sensitive to recent announcements,” Moderna President Stephen Hoge said during an investor call. …

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration plans to declare the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency as soon as Thursday in an effort to galvanize awareness and unlock additional flexibility and funding to fight the virus’s spread. The declaration would come from Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who is expected to discuss the plan at an afternoon …

“It’s just kind of remarkable to see some of the headlines — the headlines that very clearly are trying to make you afraid of monkeypox or fill-in-the-blank. “You know, because if you’re not afraid of this there will be something else after that and something else after that. “These people are determined to make you afraid and do whatever it …

New York City’s CBS affiliate reports: The next round of monkeypox vaccine appointments in New York City will go online Thursday, the health department says. City health officials say 23,000 first-dose appointments will be made available on the city’s vaccine portal starting Thursday at 6 p.m. The number of cases continues to rise both in the city and across the …

Politico reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday attempted to downplay anxiety over monkeypox, saying that politicians and the media have overblown the severity of the disease.  “I am so sick of politicians, and we saw this with Covid, trying to sow fear into the population,” DeSantis said during a press conference near Orlando. “We’re not doing fear.” DeSantis also …

Gothamist reports: Advocates and lawmakers are calling for the Biden administration to remove barriers to access for a promising medication called tecovirimat, or TPOXX, as New York’s monkeypox outbreak worsens. So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only approved the medication for the treatment of smallpox — though some early studies show TPOXX can help against monkeypox, too. …

CNN reports: Many technicians at Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics, two of the largest commercial labs in the US, have been refusing to draw blood from patients who might have monkeypox, CNN has learned. Labcorp and Quest don’t dispute that in many cases, their phlebotomists are not taking blood from possible monkeypox patients. What remains unclear, after company statements and follow-ups …

The Associated Press reports: California’s governor on Monday declared a state of emergency to speed efforts to combat the monkeypox outbreak, becoming the second state in three days to take the step. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the declaration will help California coordinate a government-wide response, seek more vaccines and lead outreach and education efforts on where people can get treatment …

New York City’s NBC News affiliate reports: New York City is declaring a public health emergency in response to the monkeypox outbreak, a step that officials say will unlock additional tools to help slow the spread in the city that’s become the epicenter of another health crisis. Mayor Eric Adams and Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan officially issued the declaration late …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a ‘disaster emergency’ in the State of New York in response to the monkeypox outbreak. “After reviewing the latest data on the monkeypox outbreak in New York State, I am declaring a State Disaster Emergency to strengthen our aggressive ongoing efforts to confront this outbreak,” Governor Hochul said. “More …

CNBC reports: The U.S. will make 786,000 additional monkeypox vaccine doses available to local health departments “as soon as possible” after the Food and Drug Administration approved the shots for distribution. The Jynneos vaccine is made by the Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic. The FDA had to inspect and sign off on a Bavarian Nordic plant in Denmark to ensure …

Via press release: Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) today announced a local emergency declaration to strengthen the City’s preparedness and response to the rapidly rising cases of Monkeypox. This action will expedite and streamline the availability of resources to better respond to this developing health emergency. The declaration of a local emergency …

Politico reports: The Biden administration is expected to declare monkeypox a public health emergency in the coming days, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The declaration, which is made by the Department of Health and Human Services, would follow a similar decision made last weekend by the World Health Organization. By designating the outbreak an emergency, HHS …

Politico reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to make monkeypox a nationally notifiable condition, directing states across the country to share surveillance data, including case numbers, according to a senior administration official and two other people with knowledge of the situation. The move, which comes more than two months after monkeypox began spreading in the United …