CDC releases monkeypox vaccine to protect high-risk adults

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday it will release some of the 1,000+ doses of Jynneos smallpox vaccine in the national stockpile to treat people who have monkeypox and others at high risk for contracting the disease. The CDC also said it intends to increase its stock of Jynneos vaccine in the near future. While there are significantly more doses of the ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine in the stockpile, that vaccine has more side effects and is less effective at treating monkeypox. Monkeypox is a self-limiting disease with a one- to two-week incubation period and a two- to three-week symptomatic period, during which the infected individual develops a distinctive rash. There are currently seven confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox in the United States. (Reuters article, 5/23/22 )