Douglas County Health Department: Roughly 650 people vaccinated against monkeypox
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Hundreds of people in Douglas County have been vaccinated against monkeypox.
According to the Douglas County Health Department, about 650 have been vaccinated against monkeypox. There are currently more requests for the vaccine than the Health Department has available.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, there have been 24 reported cases of monkeypox in Omaha.
The Douglas County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday is expected to consider a request from the Visiting Nurse Association to assist in administering the two-dose vaccine to high-risk people throughout June 30, 2023.
Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that more monkeypox vaccines will be made available.
The HHS plans to expand the number of locations that can be supported with federal shipments of the vaccine.
“Responding to the monkeypox outbreak requires close collaboration between the federal government, states, tribes, and localities,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
A $19.8 million contract was awarded by the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to AmerisourceBergen. The contract lets the Strategic National Stockpile increase distribution with more weekly shipments and delivery locations.
The HHS claims that over the next few weeks, the increased distribution will have up to 2,500 more shipments per week of the JYNNEOS vaccine and up to 2,500 ambient temperature shipments each week - which can be used for TPOXX distribution.
The vaccines and deliveries are provided for free to jurisdictions. Prior to the recently awarded contract, the Strategic National Stockpile was shipping vaccines to roughly five locations per jurisdiction.
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