The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) reported on Tuesday that American health regulators have approved injecting a monkeypox vaccine intradermally in adults to supplement limited vaccination supplies. 

According to health experts at a White House briefing, the emergency use authorization of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic will have a five-fold increase in doses accessible. Only a small amount of the vaccine was required to offer the same level of protection. The approval came after the United States and the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency.

Jynneos was approved in 2019 to treat smallpox and prevent monkeypox among adults aged 18 years and older with a high risk of getting infected. Initially, it was authorized to be administered subcutaneously, in two dosages. Still, the vaccine needs to be administered twice, four weeks apart.

The FDA has also permitted the subcutaneous vaccine administration among adults 18 years and above and at high risk of contracting monkeypox. It also continues to use this approach for youngsters as the subcutaneous method is simpler to give, and there is less evidence available.

According to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide information and train medical professionals to deliver the vaccine intradermally. 

The US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said that more than 1.1 million vaccine doses were available, and it has shipped more than 620,000 doses.    

Dawn O′Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, stated that there are currently 441,000 vials in the strategic national stockpile and hence over 2.2 million doses under the new administration method. (ETHealthWorld, August 10, 2022)