US Pushes For Walk-In Vaccination To Curb Monkeypox | united states | world | WORLD

health authorities in United States of America are promoting the creation of walk-in vaccination centers to address disparities in vaccine distribution against monkeypox.

During a visit to a vaccination center in southwestern Washington, DC, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and White House officials tasked with responding to the outbreak met with local health officials.

Demetre Daskalakis, who leads the White House response to the monkeypox outbreak, noted that the strategy undertaken by the U.S. capital is a “example to follow” at the national level, in particular for communication with communities.

According to district epidemiologist Anil Mangla, the Washington Department of Health opened several centers in early August that allow walk-in vaccinations, increasing the number of people who have received at least one dose.

passing clinics “They have increased vaccination among African Americans by 50%”insured.

The city, however, has not yet managed to close the gap: the latest data available, since the beginning of September, indicate that 20% of vaccines have been delivered to blacks, despite representing 36.3% of total cases. .

“Very often we see that our health system is not ready to reach all communities (…) and we don’t want that to happen with monkeypox.”said Secretary Becerra, who acknowledged that the data shows a disparity between the percentage of cases and the number of vaccines administered to the African community in the country.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), blacks account for nearly 40% of new cases registered, but only 12% of those vaccinated.

Whites, on the other hand, who account for 26% of new infections, also account for 47% of those who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The federal government’s goal is to eradicate the disease, which has spread to more than 40 countries.

“We want to make sure we can fight monkeypox and ultimately contain it, control it and work to eradicate it.”said Robert Fenton, coordinator of the White House response to the outbreak of the disease.

The United States is the country that has reported the highest number of monkeypox cases in the world, with 24,572 infections, and has administered approximately 684,000 doses of the vaccine across the country, according to data from the CDC.

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