The White House said Sunday that the monkeypox epidemic could be “eliminated” from the United States with more vaccines and tests available, as the WHO raised its highest alert level for the disease.
“The plan is to eliminate the virus from the United States. We can do it,” Ashish Jha, White House coronavirus response coordinator, told CBS News.
“We act fast,” he said, responding to criticism that health authorities reacted too late from the first cases in May, before the virus spread, mainly among men who have sex with women.
More vaccines than “any country”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dashboard as of July 22, 2,890 cases have been detected since the first case in the United States. Monkeypox is characterized by fever, rashes, and usually heals on its own, but the disease can cause severe pain.
New York City (nearly 800 cases), protested the lack of vaccines and an elected Democrat in the House of Representatives, Adam Schiff, judged that the federal government “was not up to the necessary response.”
“When we started two months ago, we had a limited supply of vaccines,” Ashish Jha replied, “but we got more than any other country.” “We now have more than 300,000. We will be distributing hundreds of thousands in the coming days and weeks,” he continued, referring to the nearly 800,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine that were stuck in Denmark awaiting inspection by the United States Medicines Agency. States (FDA).
This Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) triggered the highest level of alert in an attempt to stop the outbreak of cases around the world. Since early May, when it was detected outside African countries where it is endemic, more than 16,836 cases have been detected in 74 countries, according to the CDC.
Source: BFM TV
