WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Biden administration's comprehensive strategy to fight monkeypox is returning results.
By making additional vaccines, tests, treatments, and information available for large and small equity interventions across the country, new case numbers are down nearly 50 percent since early August, the White House Monkeypox Response Team claims.
Over the last couple of weeks, a pilot program to address large events of LGBTQ gatherings has been incredibly successful, Bob Fenton, the White House Monkeypox Response Coordinator, said at a news conference.
More than 3,300 shots were administered at Southern Decadence in New Orleans, over 1,000 shots were administered at Oakland Pride, and over 4,000 shots were administered at Black Pride in Atlanta. Charlotte administered an additional 1,500 doses in the days and events following Charlotte Pride last month, bringing the total vaccine administration as part of the pilot program to nearly 11,000 doses.
These efforts are reaching Black and brown communities.
By vaccinating thousands of people at high risk who might not otherwise have gotten a shot, this program is working to advance equity and combat this outbreak, Fenton told reporters.
In places like Atlanta, where the administration worked closely with the public health officials to surge vaccines and the information around events like Black Pride, the rate of new cases has been steadily declined.
In D.C., the new cases have declined 20 percent on average per week since a peak in mid-July.
According to research released from the University of Pennsylvania, knowledge of a monkeypox vaccine has jumped from approximately a third of Americans to over 60 percent.
As of September 14, over 59,600 cases have been detected globally in 103 countries. Nearly 23,000 cases of monkeypox were identified in the United States.
An MMWR report published last week shows that 61 percent of people diagnosed with monkeypox either had HIV or an STI.
Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2022 AFX News
