Experts warn Biden’s response to Monkeypox is ‘slow’
A child affected by monkeypox, sits on his father’s legs while receiving treatment at the centre of the International medical NGO Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans frontieres – MSF), in Zomea Kaka, in the Lobaya region, in the Central African Republic on October 18, 2018. (Photo by CHARLES BOUESSEL /AFP via Getty Images)
OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 1:13 PM PT – Sunday, July 3, 2022
Health care experts warned that the Monkeypox outbreak in America may get out of control. According to the National Coalition of STD Director’s, the Biden administration’s response to Monkeypox has been bureaucratic and slow.
"While the Emergency Committee didn't advise that the #monkeypox outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, they acknowledged the emergency nature of the event requiring intense response efforts"-@DrTedroshttps://t.co/cEwlELgC2v
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 29, 2022
The group argued that the lack of available vaccines, testing, and therapeutics are what may have allowed the infection to spread during the past month. This comes as the number of Monkeypox cases exceeded 350 as of last week. The WHO has also warned that sustainable transmission of Monkeypox posed a risk to susceptible demographics.
“The virus has now been identified in more than 50 new countries and that trend is likely to continue,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “I’m concerned about sustained transmission because it would suggest that the virus is establishing itself and it could move into high-risk groups including children, the immunocompromised and pregnant women. We’re starting to see this with several children already infected.”
Meanwhile, European countries have reported more than 4,000 cases of Monkeypox so far. Regional Director for WHO Europe Dr. Hans Kluge claimed that Europe accounts for nearly 90 percent of all confirmed and reported cases worldwide since mid-May.
BREAKING—#Monkeypox has TRIPLED in just 2 weeks in Europe—The head of @WHO_Europe warns Europe cannot be complacent. He notes that 10% of all cases so far have been hospitalized for treatment or isolation. ????@WHO need to declare PHEIC emergency. https://t.co/N0wIW6i8R1 pic.twitter.com/5w7jNpuz1v
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) July 1, 2022
The Biden administration is planning to roll out a vaccination campaign in the US and it’s currently buying hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses.