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Monkeypox: How effective is the vaccine?

By Ashley Edlund, WFTV.com
By Ashley Edlund, WFTV.com

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The rollout of the monkeypox vaccine has started in counties across Central Florida.

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The Health Department Orange County began taking appointments Thursday. A spokesperson for the health department said the 93 appointments they had available were gone within 24 minutes.

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The vaccines are only being offered to people with certain risk factors, particularly those who are more likely to have been recently exposed.

Researchers say the vaccine offers about 85 percent protection against monkeypox.

Internal Medicine Physician Dr. Aftab Khan says there’s still plenty that’s not known about the vaccine.

“Data available to us is more than 30 years old,” Dr. Khan said. “It was done in 1980, a study on animals.”

As many people learned from the COVID-19 virus, Dr. Khan said the monkeypox virus has changed and mutated over time. However, he still advises anyone designed as high-risk to get the vaccine.

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“85 percent is still better than zero percent,” Dr. Khan said. “If you get this vaccine within four days, you may prevent this infection. If you get this vaccine between four to 14 days, you can reduce the severity of very painful, disfiguring disease.”

That’s, of course, if a vaccine is available.

Right now, Dr. Khan says only about 800,000 doses of the vaccine are out there, but more are on the way. The White House recently announced it’s boosting supply and nearly two million doses will be available by Monday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also recently gave emergency use authorization to split one dose of the monkeypox vaccine into five.

Dr. Khan says the reduced dose can still be as effective as the full dose.

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“It can generate the same kind of antibodies against infection,” Dr. Khan said.

Appointments for the vaccine in Orange County are available Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Walk-ins will not be taken.

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