Biden administration to distribute extra 1.8m monkeypox vaccine doses

Government will also support mass vaccination events for at-risk communities and offer more antiviral treatment for those infected

The Biden administration will accelerate the distribution of monkeypox vaccines by providing an additional 1.8m doses, as well as taking other steps to address the rapidly spreading disease amid criticism of the government's slow response.

The new doses will accelerate the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) previous timeline, and HHS also announced a new program to coordinate additional doses for states and local health departments organizing mass events for at-risk communities, said the White House monkeypox response coordinator, Bob Fenton, during a morning briefing on Thursday.