HHS orders 2.5 million more doses of monkeypox vaccine

Editor's Note

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 1 announced it ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of the FDA-licensed Bavarian Nordic's JYNNEOS vaccine in response to current or future monkeypox outbreaks and as part of US smallpox preparedness, Healthcare Purchasing News (HPN) July 5 reports.

The order announced is in addition to the 500,000 doses of government-owned vaccine the company is producing in 2022 for use in the current response to monkeypox in the US, HPN noted, bringing the “total vaccine doses to be delivered in 2022 and 2023 to more than 4 million.” Deliveries from this latest order will begin arriving at the Strategic National Stockpile later this year and will continue through early 2023.

"We are working around-the-clock with public health officials in states and large metro areas to provide them with vaccines and treatments to respond to the current monkeypox outbreak," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the announcement. "This order of additional JYNNEOS vaccine will help us push out more vaccine quickly, knowing that we have more doses on the way in the coming months – and is only possible because of our longstanding investment in smallpox and monkeypox preparedness."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on June 30 released guidance for all laboratories that perform diagnostics testing for monkeypox; see the full guidance here.