Joe Gastaldo, MD, System Medical Director for Infectious Disease, explains who should get the monkeypox vaccine and if it can be prescribed or recommended by a provider.
There is an FDA approved vaccine for monkeypox and smallpox. Currently, our country only has about 1,000 doses.
The only reason to receive the monkeypox vaccine is if you have had a close encounter with somebody with confirmed or suspected monkeypox.
The monkeypox vaccine cannot be ordered by a physician and given to a patient. At this time, there is no need to distribute monkeypox vaccines to the widespread population.