Several news sources today are saying the US is about to declare monkeypox a public health emergency.
Politico: Biden administration making plans to use public health emergency authorities to combat monkeypox. The moves aim to speed up distribution of vaccines amid criticism of the federal government’s response. Politico report
NBC: Monkeypox cases have topped 6,600 nationwide, but officials still hope they can control the outbreak with more vaccines and testing. NBC report
Washington Post: The Biden administration plans to declare the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency as soon as Thursday in an effort to galvanize awareness and unlock additional flexibility and funding to fight the virus’s spread. WAPO report
CNN: The announcement would come from the Department of Health and Human Services. With cases on the rise across the US, the administration has been criticized at times for its handling of the outbreak, and some have called on the government to declare a national emergency without delay. CNN report
Sadly, the declaration has comes too late to have much of an impact on the spread of the disease across America. That ship has already sailed.
And the announcement has now been made officially:
