The U.S. government is shipping drugs and vaccines to combat the monkeypox virus to eight states that have requested them, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said in a briefing Friday.
Driving the news: There have been at least 20 cases of monkeypox in the United States across 11 states, and those numbers are expected to rise, the CDC said.
- That is six more cases than last week, per Bloomberg.
Details: The government has delivered 1,200 doses of the vaccine and 100 treatment courses for the monkeypox virus, Raj Panjabi, the White House's senior director for global health security and biodefense, told reporters during the CDC briefing.
- States have received the Jynneos vaccine, which is given to prevent monkeypox and smallpox.
- Officials said one state asked for the ACAM2000 vaccine, which is distributed post-exposure.
- The U.S. stockpile of the vaccine has climbed, too, but officials did not give a specific number.
What they're saying: "We want to offer vaccines to people who've had high-risk contact with infected individuals to help prevent more onward transmission of the virus," said Panjabi.
- "We want to ensure that people with high-risk exposures have rapid access to vaccines and, if they become sick, can receive appropriate treatment," he added.
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