CDC Director Adopts Recommendation of Routine Use of Mpox Vaccine to Protect Those at Risk

On October 25, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously recommended broader and more routine use of the mpox vaccine to prevent the disease in people known to be at risk for mpox. The Committee’s recommendation has been adopted by the CDC Director and is now official.

ACIP recommends vaccination with the two-dose JYNNEOS vaccine series for persons ages 18 and older who are at risk for mpox. (The second dose is administered 28 days after the first dose.)

Persons at risk are identified as:

• Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, transgender, or nonbinary people who in the past 6 months have had one of the following:
  • A new diagnosis of ≥1 sexually transmitted disease
  • More than one sex partner
  • Sex at a commercial sex venue
  • Sex in association with a large public event in a geographic area where mpox transmission is occurring
• Sexual partners of persons with the risks described in above
• Persons who anticipate experiencing any of the above

ACIP had previously recommended the vaccine series be given during an mpox outbreak. This is an interim recommendation that ACIP will revisit in 2-3 years.