Colorado prioritizes administering first doses of monkeypox vaccine to high-risk residents

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will adopt a vaccination strategy that prioritizes administering first doses to as many high-risk individuals as possible. The strategy provides the broadest protection against the spread of monkeypox in Colorado as the federal vaccine supply remains extremely limited.

“Given the current outbreak, our goal at this time is to reduce the spread of monkeypox among persons at risk, and to that end, we will use all our doses on hand to vaccinate as many eligible people as we are able,” said Eric France, chief medical officer for CDPHE. “We do expect more doses to come from the federal government that we can then use for second dose administration.”

Jynneos is typically given in a two-dose series. Data from clinical trials suggests that receiving only the first dose of Jynneos vaccine should offer early protection from monkeypox. There is no maximum allowable interval between the first and second doses of a Jynneos vaccine series, and the second dose can be safely administered after the recommended 28-day window.

If the vaccine is given four days after exposure to the monkeypox virus, it can help prevent people from getting sick; if given in the first two weeks after exposure, it could lessen the severity of the disease.

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.