New York, Illinois and California declared emergencies over monkeypox’s continued spread among the population. However, it is not clear how these declarations will benefit given current shortages of vaccines.
The number of monkeypox cases in the United States has risen to over 5,800. (The chart at the right shows transmission speed, but is slightly inaccurate). They have been confirmed in all 50 states except Montana and Wyoming. Although these numbers remain low, they are much lower than the number of infections that were reported a month ago. It was difficult to test for the disease at that time. Therefore, many new cases could have been caused by people who were already infected and didn’t realize it.
Health officials say that the spread of HIV remains among males who have sex. According to California state officials, 98% of the cases have been reported among this group. Monkeypox can spread by contact, even though it isn’t a sexually transmissible disease. It can also be transmitted through skin contact (through the lesions or rash associated with it) and through clothing. However, the strain of monkeypox that spread to the U.S. and Europe appears resistant to casual contact. The majority of infections are spread by partners.
While Monkeypox may be very painful, it has so far not proved to be fatal. The deaths of two people in Spain and one Brazilian were just announced. They are the first reported cases from outside Africa. He also had lymphoma, and his immune system was compromised when he died in Brazil.
The virus is not yet under control in the United States. However, it’s easier to pinpoint areas where the spread will be and target the most vulnerable. New York was the worst affected, while California and Illinois are home to large numbers of gay and bisexual males in major cities. Officials in the health sector are trying to prioritise vaccination for these sexually active males.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, California governor. California law grants the governor broad, if not overly expansive powers during an emergency. He can redirect funding from his budget and tell state agencies what they should do.
Newsom has limited emergency orders in California. This is likely due to California’s limited ability to respond to spread of the virus. These orders grant emergency medical personnel (EMS) the ability to administer monkeypox vaccines which have been approved and permit for possible future changes to allow EMS workers to assist in the response. There is now a larger pool of healthcare workers that can operate clinics and administer the monkeypox vaccines.
It would be great if there were more. These announcements highlight that the US is still struggling to obtain vaccines. The Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles City received 24,000 vaccines, while the rest of California has received 61,000. California has close to 40million people. More than 1.8million of these are LGBT. When the sexes were split equally that would mean that there are approximately 900,000. This doesn’t include men who may quietly be gay or bisexual but do not want to be identified as such.
Reason Many media outlets and others have noted the federal red tape and foot-dragging that has prevented more than 1,000,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine from being shipped to the U.S. for immediate use. A third treatment for monkeypox is still being tested in the United States. It’s currently in clinical trials and has not been approved to be used in smallpox.
ACAM2000 is a generic drug that the U.S. has large quantities of. It contains more than 100,000,000 doses. This drug can be used to treat smallpox. Although they can likely be used to treat and prevent monkeypox, the process isn’t as straightforward as removing them from their storage containers and giving them to clinics. These are just a few of the many uses for them. Vox notes, ACAM2000 isn’t simply injected. The complex multijabbing procedure involves a unique needle and a lengthy process that may not be well-remembered by older people who were vaccinated against smallpox. Side effects can occur in people who have HIV or are immunocompromised. It is not possible to say if ACAM2000 would work faster and more effectively than Jynneos or other vaccines being shipped from Denmark.
It seems that these emergency declarations were not made by governors in an attempt to seize more power and control as with COVID-19, but more to exert political pressure on federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to organize and get vaccines to the affected states. HHS granted states last Friday permission to submit requests for the 786,000 Jynneos dosages that they were shipping to the United States.