who makes it, how it works, where it is available

(CNN Spanish) — The vaccine was the key tool to eradicate smallpox, but what about now with the monkey pox? There is a specific vaccine for this disease, but it is not widely available globally, and the smallpox vaccine that might also provide protection is no longer widely used. This is what you should know.

Data from Africa suggest that the smallpox vaccine is at least 85% effective in preventing monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, once the disease was eradicated, global vaccination campaigns ceased and that is why, although in the past these vaccines provided protection, “today people under 40 to 50 years of age (depending on the country) can be more susceptible to monkeypox,” says the World Health Organization.

An example is the United States, which ended widespread vaccination even before it was eradicated globally. “Routine vaccination of the American public stopped in 1972 after the disease was eradicated in the United States, and as a result, a large proportion of the United States, as well as the world’s population, do not have immunity,” explained Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biological Evaluation and Research of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for its acronym in English).

In 2019, precisely, the FDA approved a vaccine against smallpox and monkeypox which is known as Jynneos, Imvamune or Imvanex. The vaccine, made by Bavarian Nordic, is approved for adults 18 years and older who may be at high risk of being infected with these viruses.

This week, the CDC confirmed that they are in the process of releasing the vaccine for “high risk” people.

“Right now, we have over 1,000 doses available and we expect that level to increase very rapidly in the coming weeks as the company provides us with more doses,” said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Division of Pathogens and Pathology at High Consequence within the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

What does the vaccine contain?

The vaccine is made from the vaccinia virus, which is related to the viruses that cause smallpox and monkeypox but is different. The drug has a modified form of that virus that does not cause disease in people and cannot reproduce in human cells. It can protect against both pox.

How is it applied and what side effects does it have?

The vaccine is given in two doses four weeks apart, according to the FDA. Side effects such as pain, redness, swelling, or itching at the injection site, as well as headache, muscle pain, and fatigue have been reported. Its safety was evaluated in more than 7,800 people who received at least one dose.

How effective is it?

This vaccine is for the prevention of both smallpox and monkeypox.

In the case of smallpox, the effectiveness was determined in a study that compared the response of those who received this vaccine and another called ACAM2000. About 400 healthy adults up to 42 years of age participated.

The group that received the Jynneos vaccine “had an immune response that was noninferior to the immune responses to ACAM2000,” the FDA explains. In addition, he maintains, the efficacy was also inferred from animal studies.

In the case of monkeypox, the efficacy of Jynneos “is inferred from antibody responses in participants in the smallpox clinical study and from studies in nonhuman primates that showed protection in animals vaccinated with Jynneos that were exposed to the monkeypox virus.

Who makes it?

The monkeypox vaccine is manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic. The company also manufactures vaccines against rabies and tick-borne encephalitis, and has developed an Ebola vaccine licensed to Janssen, according to the information available on its website.

The company announced last week that the United States has exercised options on a $119 million contract with the company to supply the vaccine with additional options valued at $180 million. In total they would allow him to acquire 13 million vaccines.

Bavarian Nordic also announced a recent agreement with another European country to provide these vaccines.

Other countries that approved this vaccine

The United States and Canada have approved this smallpox vaccine with an extension to cover monkeypox, according to the drugmaker. In Europe, meanwhile, it is approved “for the smallpox indication only, but has previously been supplied for off-label use (ie, in a different condition than approved) in response to monkeypox cases.”

With information from Dr. Elmer Huerta.

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