The Biden administration announced a new plan on Tuesday to send extra doses of monkeypox vaccine to states for use at events or sites that can reach more people of color and others who have lacked access to shots.
The program, called an “equity intervention pilot,” will offer 10,000 vials of vaccine, or as many as 50,000 doses, that can be distributed by local officials to five different venues. Officials said the doses were meant for people who might struggle to find appointments or worry about the stigma of attending public vaccination events.
The announcement served as a reminder that even as cases have decreased in some large cities, the nation’s inoculation campaign has lagged in getting vaccines to people who might be especially vulnerable to infection. The disease has spread primarily among men who have sex with men. A majority of confirmed monkeypox infections in recent weeks have been in Black and Hispanic people, but they have received disproportionately fewer vaccine doses. Black Americans have received roughly 10 percent of doses but have made up about a third of cases in recent weeks.