Wisconsin Chief Medical Officer Talks Monkeypox Vaccine

WISCONSIN — Earlier this week Wisconsin health officials announced they are going to make the Monkeypox vaccine available to more people.

The Monkeypox outbreak was declared a national public health emergency last month.

The announcement frees up federal funding to prioritize fighting the virus through vaccines.

Wisconsin’s Chief Medical Officer says the criteria for eligibility will be expanded, but they are still learning about how well the vaccine works.

“The thing we’re generally concerned about with the Jynneos Vaccine is it hasn’t been studied in clinical trials where we have a good estimate of the efficacies. Similar to what we had for COVID vaccines and many other vaccines so we are learning in real time the degree of protection,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, the Chief Medical Officer. “So we want the same population who is eligible for HIV prep to also consider themselves to be eligible for Monkeypox prep, pre-exposure Prophylaxis.”

If you have had known exposure to someone with Monkeypox you should talk with a doctor or nurse to find out if you are eligible for the vaccine.