The White House announced a new plan Thursday to get more monkeypox vaccine out to the public and make an additional 1.8 million doses available starting Monday. With a faster distribution timeline than the Department of Health and Human Services originally proposed, the Biden administration is also offering more resources for states to help them transition to a new way of administering the vaccine that will stretch supplies by injecting a lesser dose between the layers of skin, rather than under the skin.
And in an effort to reach at-risk populations, federal officials are launching a pilot program that will make available up to 50,000 vaccine doses from the national stockpile at Pride and other large events attracting the LGBTQ community. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 13,500 monkeypox cases have been reported in the U.S., and more than 39,000 cases have been reported worldwide. The number is growing in New Jersey, too, with 377 confirmed infections as of Thursday.
