- The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency (PHE) in an effort to expedite the approval process for new treatments and provide more flexibility for federal agencies to respond to the outbreak. The announcement comes amid intense pressure from health advocates and congressional Democrats for the administration to recognize the severity of the outbreak. U.S. health officials said that the U.S. will distribute 800,000 monkeypox vaccine doses and another 150,000 doses in the strategic national stockpile in September. According to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commission Robert Califf, the administration is also considering splitting doses of the smallpox vaccine, which are being used to prevent monkeypox amid the current outbreak, into five smaller doses. (Articles here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)
August 5, 2022
D.C. News