As the first monkeypox case involving a human-to-dog transmission reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) said more than 35,000 recently confirmed cases of monkeypox were accompanied by 12 deaths in 92 nations and territories, including almost 7,500 from last week alone. That made for the second consecutive week with a 20% increase, WHO Director-General Dr […] Continue reading ->
While the process of renaming monkeypox is still underway, a group of global experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed that the virus’s variants will be renamed with Roman numerals. This follows a meeting convened by the WHO this week to enable virologists and public health experts to reach consensus on new […] Continue reading ->
Top executives at Bavarian Nordic, which makes the world’s only monkeypox vaccine, avoided news media in the face of a worldwide shortage of their product. But SIGA, the company behind the antiviral treatment Tecovirimat (TPOXX™), has not been so shy. In an exclusive interview, SIGA’s CEO, Phillip Gomez, says the small, speciality firm is  prepared […] Continue reading ->
In the aftermath of a national health emergency declaration for Monkeypox, the United States has now decided to split the approved MVA-BN vaccine into five doses in an effort to stretch supply.  Some experts, however, have warned that the plan may backfire if health workers are not sufficiently trained in the intradermal skin-based jab technique […] Continue reading ->
The United States is considering shifting to intradermal injections of Monkeypox vaccine that could potentially stretch one dose of the approved MVA-BN vaccine, available only in limited quantities, into five doses, said US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf on Thursday. He was speaking at a press briefing minutes after Xavier Becerra, US Secretary […] Continue reading ->
High income countries like the United States and Canada are casting a wide net in their vaccine strategy for monkeypox, vaccinating people exposed to an infected case and groups at risk of exposure while scrambling to study the results in terms of efficacy.  That was the upshot of a WHO-sponsored symposium on monkeypox research involving […] Continue reading ->
The manufacturer of the world’s only vaccine approved for monkeypox, Bavarian Nordic, closed its European vaccine production plant this spring and won’t reopen again until late 2022 – leading to a global monkeypox vaccine shortage, Health Policy Watch has learned. With only 16.4 million doses of the MVA-BN vaccine available worldwide, it is unclear how […] Continue reading ->