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U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky said Thursday she was cautiously optimistic that growth in new monkeypox cases is down, but some parts of the country are still seeing an increase. infections.
She also told a White House briefing that the agency was taking steps to address racial and ethnic disparities in the distribution of monkeypox vaccines.
Nearly 23,000 cases of monkeypox have been identified in the United States as of September 14, Walensky told reporters.
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“Over the past few weeks, we have been pleased to see a decline in the growth of new cases here and abroad. There are areas of the United States where the rate of increase in new cases continues to increase,” she said. “We approach this news with cautious optimism. »
The racial and ethnic makeup of the epidemic has changed in recent weeks, Walensky said.
The CDC is opening applications for a vaccine equity pilot program in which 50,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine have been allocated to address distribution disparities.
Last week, non-Hispanic black males accounted for 38% of reported monkeypox infections and Hispanic males accounted for 25%. A stark contrast to the start of the monkeypox epidemic where non-Hispanic white males accounted for most cases.
(REUTERS/FILE PHOTO)
“While monkeypox cases were first seen primarily in non-Hispanic white males, last week of the cases for which we have race and ethnicity data, non-Hispanic black males accounted for 38% of the cases, Latino or Hispanic males accounted for 25% of the cases and non-Hispanic white males accounted for 26%,” Walensky said.
Conversely, of the 91% of first vaccine doses given for which the CDC has data on race and ethnicity, whites received regarding 47% of those injections, Hispanics regarding 20%, and blacks around 12%, the CDC director noted. .
“The percentage of vaccines given to Latino or Hispanic men and non-Hispanic black men is disproportionately lower than what we see represented in cases,” she acknowledged.
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More than 540,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine have been administered so far, Walensky said. CDC data shows that 80% of them were first doses, but the number of second doses given has increased in recent weeks, Walensky said.
Jynneos must be given in two doses, four weeks apart, to be fully effective. During a briefing on August 26, Walensky said that 97% of the injections given were first doses.
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