U.S. health officials say more than 100,000 doses of monkeypox vaccines are on the way to states in the next few days. And several million more doses are said to be coming in the months ahead.
Friday's announcement described the government's latest attempts to keep up with a surprising international outbreak accounting for hundreds of newly reported U.S. cases daily. In a call with reporters, officials said they expect cases to keep rising for at least several additional weeks.
They also acknowledged that vaccine supply hasn't been keeping up with the demand seen in New York, California and some other places.
Some public health experts have begun to wonder if the outbreak is becoming widespread enough that monkeypox will become an entrenched sexually transmitted disease, theAssociated Press reported.
“All of our work right now is to prevent that from happening,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.