Monkeypox vaccine supplies take a shift with a new strategy

Image source: Reuters

With the emergence of cases of monkeypox in the United States, vaccines have become in demand, with strategies implemented with varying results.

Vaccine supply

Vaccination strategies have changed to fit the low-dose intradermal approach of the Biden administration.

As a result, the change expanded vaccine stocks and met a growing demand for the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine.

Meanwhile, others have reported that the method should allow for five small doses of vaccines; instead, they were only able to extract four.

The shift

According to Bob Fenton, the White House National Coordinator for Monkeypox Response, more than three-quarters of jurisdiction has moved to the United States to implement the intradermal method of administering the monkeypox vaccine.

“As of today, 75% of jurisdictions are already applying intradermal administration of vaccine, and another 20% are working to move in that direction,” said Fenton.

Claire Hanna, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, shared similar findings from a recent survey of immunization managers.

Emergency use

In early August, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization that allows healthcare providers to administer the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine intradermally rather than subcutaneously.

Intradermal administration of the vaccine requires one-fifth of the dose for subcutaneous injection, allowing providers to receive up to five doses from the standard single-dose vial.

“It’s a little too early to tell how it’s going to help with the supply meeting demand, but I think logically, you use less vaccine for one person,” said Dr. Emily Volk, the president of the College of American Pathologists.

“This is a dose-sparing approach, so it’s going to allow for the doses that we do have to be usable for many more people. So, to me that is very positive and I am actually heartened that the public health community is thinking outside the box.”

“It also buys time to make more vaccine,” she added.

Availability and eligibility of vaccines

The city and county of San Francisco, New York, Fairfax County in Virginia, Cook County in Illinois and Dallas County in Texas are among the places where a high number of monkeypox cases have passed to the hospital. intradermal administration of the vaccine.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health wrote that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Health provided guidance on switching to the intradermal technique.

After New York adopted the new intradermal vaccination strategy last week, the city announced that it would open more than 12,000 new appointments to the public.

Appointments are for people who are eligible for the vaccination and who have not yet received the first dose.

In most places, the vaccine is available to people who are believed to be at risk of exposure to the virus.

Meanwhile, in Virginia last week, vaccine eligibility was expanded to include people of any sexual orientation or gender who have had anonymous or multiple sexual partners in the past two weeks.

In Dallas, vaccination coverage has been extended to adults diagnosed with HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, or early syphilis in the past 12 months.

Doses

Dr. Sharon Welbel, an infectious disease physician and director of hospital epidemiology and infection control systems at Cook County Health in Illinois, has attended meetings with public health officials in other cities.

Public health officials said they could not get five doses from the vial.

However, Dr. Welbel said that each of their vaccines managed to get five doses per vial.

But in some areas, like Fairfox County in Virginia, vaccine administrators couldn’t extract all five doses.

Opportunities

According to Dr. Welbel, Chicago had the opportunity to vaccinate more people with the smallest vaccination, prompting the city to switch to the intradermal method.

Some health care providers practiced with similar weapons, while those who didn’t weren’t allowed to bother vaccinating people until they got used to the new technique.

The new strategy has been successful so far, and Dr. Welbel said Chicago has expanded the population of people eligible for the vaccine, similar to other cities.

Reference:

Monkeypox strategy shift yields more supply for some, hurdles for others

Opinions expressed by Portland News contributors are their own.