Biden administration is planning to declare Monkeypox as a public health emergency in the US as the total cases of the newly emerged virus surpassed 3500 cases.
Biden's decision would come this week with the announcement of receiving 800,000 additional vaccine doses which will be distributed after being reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Declaring an emergency could give the chance for the agencies to collect data and information about the virus.
It is "a tool that could be used to both align with WHO and raise additional awareness, as well as provide significant justification for HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] to use [though limited] tools that would aid in the response," according to The Washington Post.
An official told the Washington Post: "Our focus is on getting HHS to move as quickly as possible … it's about strengthening and accelerating the response, not just tacking on a different name," an official familiar with the response told the Post, adding that he "is pushing HHS to get vaccine allocations out the door, and pushing FDA to get the vaccine cleared in the next few days, without cutting corners."
On Saturday, the WHO launched the highest level of alert in an attempt to contain an outbreak of monkeypox, which has so far infected about 17,000 people in 74 countries, according to its Director-General.
During a press conference, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he has decided to declare a health emergency with an international dimension against monkeypox, explaining that the risk in the world is relatively moderate, with the exception of Europe, where it is considered high.
The Director-General of WHO stressed that it is possible to control monkeypox and stop its spread using the means available to us at the present time, noting that the virus “is of international concern.”
Ghebreyesus sounded the alarm, calling for a coordinated international response, including the release of funds and the exchange of vaccines to control the virus.
The declaration of a state of a health emergency came after two well-informed sources announced that a state of pision prevailed among members of a team of experts of WHO regarding the emergency.
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