On monkeypox, health minister says countries ‘need to work with us’

James Krellenstein, founder of PrEP4All, an AIDS advocacy group, said that’s not fast enough. He accused the FDA of not acting more quickly to increase supplies and of delaying an inspection of the vaccine manufacturing plant in Denmark.

But Dr. Robert Califf, the FDA’s commissioner, told reporters Thursday that his agency had acted “much faster than planned,” given that it had to not only inspect the plant but also make sure that the vaccine is effective. “The only thing worse than not having a vaccine,” he said, “is having a vaccine that is widespread and not effective.”

Currently, there is not enough vaccine to go around. On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, a Democrat, wrote a letter to Mr. Becerra and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, complaining that New Jersey had not received its fair share. In the letter, obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Murphy noted New Jersey’s proximity to New York, which has more cases of monkeypox than any other state.

He said his calculations show that because of that proximity and the number of same-sex households in New Jersey, his state will absorb 3 percent of the national burden of the disease, but has been allocated only 2.06 percent of the 131,000 doses available so far. “Therefore, we do not believe that New Jersey has received a fair percentage of the available vaccine,” Mr. Murphy’s letter said.

Federal health officials say their allocation strategy depends on two factors: how many cases a state has and how many of its residents are at risk. The formula favors areas with at-risk populations — including men who have sex with men who have HIV or who are eligible for treatment that can reduce a person’s chances of contracting HIV, said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston. who helps lead the monkeypox response for the CDC

After more than two years of a coronavirus pandemic, the monkeypox outbreak that began in May was another challenge for beleaguered public health officials across the country. So far, Congress has not appropriated money for a response — although Senate Democrats proposed $21 billion in Covid spending on Thursday — and the public is tired of hearing about infectious diseases. The Biden administration has estimated that an additional $7 billion will be needed to combat monkeypox.