A nurse holds a monkeypox vaccination at the Northwell Health Immediate Care Center at Fire Island-Cherry Grove, in New York, U.S., July 15, 2022.A nurse holds a monkeypox vaccination at the Northwell Health Immediate Care Center at Fire Island-Cherry Grove, in New York, U.S., July 15, 2022.
Supplies of the key Bavarian Nordic shot, the only vaccine authorised to prevent monkeypox and a key part of the global public health response, are scarce, according to WHO and other government health agencies. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, data collected in a 2015 clinical study demonstrated that dose-sparing could work without sacrificing the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
It is unclear whether either approach will result in adequate protection against monkeypox, which is usually a mild to moderate infection that leads to flu-like symptoms and characteristic pus-filled skin lesions.