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The Biden administration declares a public health emergency monkeypox outbreak in the United States, which now counts more infections from the virus than any other country in the world. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the decision at a briefing with top public health officials on Thursday.
“This public health emergency will allow us to explore additional strategies to get vaccines and treatments faster to affected communities. And it will allow us to get more data from jurisdictions so we can effectively monitor and attack this the outbreak,” said Robert Fenton. The White House’s newly appointed national smallpox response coordinator said at the briefing.
During the last decade, there have been national emergency declarations it had been done before just for the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisisand Zika virus outbreak in 2017.
As with COVID-19, Becerra’s move to declare a state of emergency could unlocking a wide range of flexibility in funding and regulations to deal with the spread of monkeypox.
A ruling would open the door for the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency licenses which could facilitate access to treatments and vaccines for the monkeypox outbreak.
For example, a spokesman for Becerra’s department confirmed to CBS News earlier this month that it was working to see if millions of doses of the previously stockpiled — and now expired — Jynneos vaccine could be developed under an emergency use license.
Samples of the expired doses have been sent back to manufacturer Bavarian Nordic for testing, although the spokesman said it was “highly unlikely that these doses would remain viable”.
Officials have said for weeks that they were considering the move as the number of cases has risen and demand for shots has far outstripped supply across the country.
The move comes as a growing number of jurisdictions, including several states and citiesAs well as World Health Organisation everyone has considered the outbreak an emergency.
This week, President Biden, too beaten officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directs the country’s smallpox response from the White House.
On Wednesday, the CDC said had counted at least 6,617 infections across the country. All but two states — Montana and Wyoming — have reported detecting at least one infection.
The majority of infections are still believed to be spread through close intimate contact between men who have sex with men. Although no deaths have been reported, patients often endure sometimes excruciatingly painful rashes and lesions that may last for weeks.
Doctors have also responded to a handful of infections in other groups at higher risk of serious illness, such as pregnant woman and young children.
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