WASHINGTON (AP) — At-risk people who received a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine in U.S. efforts against the virus appeared to be significantly less likely to get sick, public health officials announced Wednesday, even as they urged a second dose for full protection.
It was the first look public health officials have offered into how the Jynneos vaccine is affecting monkeypox, a virus that is primarily spread among men who have sex with infected men.
“These new data provide us with a level of cautious optimism that the vaccine is working as intended,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.
Roughly 800,000 first and second doses of the vaccine have been administered across the country to people who are considered high risk for becoming infected with the virus, White House National Monkeypox Response Coordinator Bob Fenton said.
There is no scientifically conclusive data available to prove effectiveness of the Jynneos vaccine against monkeypox.