Monkeypox Vaccine Boosters Needed Since Protection Fades After One Year

Monkeypox Vaccine Boosters Needed Since Protection Fades After One Year

The last time I reported on the virus formerly known as monkeypox, 3.6 million doses of vaccines were now on their way to Central Africa to fight the more virulent Clade 1b strain of mpox with the vaccination program beginning this month.

Even if successful, will it contain the virus that has become even more transmissible and virulent? Perhaps.

Total containment may require implementing a robust booster program, as it is being reported that monkeypox vaccine protection fades after one year.

Vaccine protection against mpox fades quickly in the human immune system, even in people who’ve received the full two-dose regimen, a new real-world study shows.

Antibody levels fell to low or near zero within the first few months of getting the vaccine, unless the person had previously received a smallpox vaccine, scientists reported Saturday at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona.

In the study, less than half of men without prior smallpox vaccination had any detectible antibodies to mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) 28 days after getting their second jab, the findings showed.

“The results presented here indicate that long-term protective immunity might need a booster dose for its maintenance,” said researcher Dr. Klara Sonden, deputy state epidemiologist for the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

It turns out that there was a cluster of cases in Chicago earlier this year, and a significant portion of the men infected had received 2 doses of the vaccine that has been used for monkeypox prevention.

Of the first 14 cases out of 20 recently reported in Chicago, 80 percent were in men who have sex with men and the rest had an unknown sexual orientation, according to a spokesperson from the city health department. Information on the six new cases reported Monday is forthcoming.

Ten of the individuals were fully vaccinated with two doses of the Jynneos vaccine, including four who received both doses subcutaneously and four who received one dose via that injection technique and the other intradermally. A Howard Brown representative reports that one was previously infected with mpox, in August.

While the vaccine rollout began, let’s compare the number of doses delivered versus those pledged. Looking at the data, it appears that out of the millions pledged, only a fraction had actually landed on African soil by early October.

U.S. Ambassador Lucy Tamlyn announced in a Tuesday social media post that 50,000 doses of the pox vaccine donated by the U.S. government had arrived in Congo, adding to the 200,000 doses received late last week from the European Union.

Furthermore, while Americans are recovering from Hurricane Helene and preparing for Milton, there are demands that our nation sends even more money to fight mpox in Africa.

Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, welcomed the vaccine deliveries, adding a call for the U.S. to provide “continued support as we need to vaccinate 10 million people in Africa in the next 6 months.”

Kaseya said the Africa CDC was seeking an additional $599 million from the U.S. to support “the continental response to the outbreak.” Such funding would help Congo and other poor nations obtain significantly more vaccines through the Gavi alliance.

Finally, it appears the definition of success in the battle against the spread of monkeypox in Africa is being tweaked to accommodate the realities of both the virus and the vaccination program. Below is a quote from Virologist Nicaise Ndembi, who is coordinating the mpox response for Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, when asked about what success would look like.

In the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo], we’re dealing with a country of 100 million people. We’re talking about over 30,000 suspected cases — and consider, how many people are even able to get tested? Currently, about 40% of suspected cases get tested, and about 60% of those are positive. That means we’re not testing a lot, and we still have people out there that are moving with the virus who don’t even know they’re infected.

You are controlling an epidemic when new cases stop coming from the contacts of those who you know are infected. Vaccines are meant to help break those chains of transmission — so that’s something we’ll be looking for.

But vaccination is just one of the tools in the response: risk communication, community engagement, laboratory [infrastructure] are equally important.

It’s probably a good idea not to put all your eggs in the vaccine basket, despite Bog Pharma seemingly presenting it as a cure-all.

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