Smallpox vaccines can protect against monkeypox, and U.S. has 100 million doses

Smallpox vaccines can protect against monkeypox, and U.S. has 100 million doses
# 24 May 2022 04:18 (UTC +04:00)

Two FDA-approved vaccines for smallpox are in the Strategic National Stockpile, one of many reasons this outbreak is nothing like the coronavirus, APA reports citing NBC News.

The level of preparedness for monkeypox couldn’t be more different.

"We have vaccines squirreled away by our government," said Blossom Damania, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. "I don’t think people need to be alarmed. Monkeypox is a serious disease. We need to respect it and take it seriously, but we don’t need to panic."

The U.S. keeps two vaccines for smallpox approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the Strategic National Stockpile — a product, in part, of a 9/11-enhanced fear of bioterrorism. The monkeypox virus is similar enough that researchers expect both shots to offer protection, although only one, called Jynneos, has been FDA-approved for use against monkeypox.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that more than 1,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine are stockpiled and can be distributed to those who have been in contact with infected people. In total, the government has more than 100 million doses of a smallpox vaccine called ACAM2000, CDC officials said.

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