The U.S. government is ramping up its efforts to fight monkeypox by sending hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses to states in the coming months, expanding access for those most at risk and increasing supply to areas with high case numbers.
The shot has already been cleared for both smallpox and monkeypox in the United States, where it is called Jynneos.
"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," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
Deliveries under the latest contract will start in the fourth quarter of 2022 and continue through early 2023, the company said.
Bavarian Nordic said the total U.S. inventory of the vaccine would reach about 4.4 million doses when combined with a 2020 order for 1.4 million doses.
In late June, the World Health Organization decided against declaring a global health emergency over monkeypox' spread across a number of continents.
