Vaccine appears to protect against monkeypox, CDC says

A vial containing the monkeypox vaccine and a syringe is set on the table at a vaccination clinic run by the Mecklenburg County Public Health Department in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022. At-risk people who received just one dose of the monkeypox vaccine appeared to be significantly less likely to get sick from the virus, public health officials announced Wednesday, even as they urged a second dose for full protection. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

At-risk people who received a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine in U.S. efforts against the virus appeared to be significantly less likely to get sick, public health officials announced Wednesday, even as they urged a second dose for full protection.

It was the first look public health officials have offered into how the Jynneos vaccine is affecting monkeypox, a virus that is primarily spread among men who have sex with infected men.

“These new data provide us with a level of cautious optimism that the vaccine is working as intended,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.