The vaccine can now be given to high-risk adults intradermally, meaning between the layers of the skin, rather than subcutaneously, or under the skin, as it has been given up till now. This will allow providers to get five doses out of a standard one-dose vial.
The new EUA also allows subcutaneous vaccination in people under 18 who are at high risk of infection.
The move could increase the number of vaccine doses in the national stockpile from 441,000 to over 2.2 million, officials said Tuesday.
But the EUA isn’t going to be a panacea as the outbreak continues to grow and vaccine demand remains high. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that at least 1.5 million people in the US are eligible for the two-dose vaccine.
“I think we’re going to see that we will likely still run out of vaccines before we run out of arms,” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the White House’s assistant national response coordinator, said Tuesday.
Moving “as quickly as possible”
He added at a briefing Tuesday, “we encourage jurisdictions to utilize alternative dosing method as quickly as possible, and we’ll be your partner in this step every step of the way.”
The move comes less than a week after the Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency, which gives the FDA and other government health agencies more flexibility to fight the spread of the virus.
Earlier Tuesday, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a determination to pave the way for the FDA’s move.
Prevention remains important
The CDC is launching an outreach program to ease the transition to the new strategy, expanding its education and information efforts for public health officials and health care providers. Vaccine equity will be a key part of this message, as will training and outreach on how to use the special needle for intradermal vaccination.
Officials also emphasized that people should continue to take steps to protect themselves from the monkeypox virus even after they’re vaccinated, especially those in the hard-hit population of gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men. This includes avoiding skin-to-skin contact with someone who may be infected and limiting the number of sex partners.
“Really, prevention for monkey pox is multidomain,” Daskalakis said. “And so as people are working to get vaccinated … we really want to give people options and clear guidance of what to do between the first and second dose and also to be aware that it does take time after the second dose to also achieve adequate protection.”
Jynneos is given as two doses at least four weeks apart. Officials said Tuesday that people who have gotten a first dose subcutaneously can get the second intradermally.
Research will continue
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