Progress Toward Equitable Mpox Vaccination Coverage: A Shortfall Analysis — United States, May 2022–April 2023

Pivoting COVID-19 Resources for an Equitable Mpox Vaccine Response in Louisiana

“…Previous reports on JYNNEOS uptake have described recipient demographic characteristics in many states, but they have not examined the continued utility and impact of pandemic-era partnerships to mount equitable responses against other outbreaks. 4 , 16 , 17 , 18 To our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate the equity impact of utilizing COVID-19 strategies and partnerships to address other outbreaks. As such, it has important public health implications by serving as a blueprint for other jurisdictions.…”

“…Early in the outbreak, White Louisianans were overrepresented among vaccinated individuals compared with Black Louisianans, consistent with national reports. 16 The IIS data allowed for us to monitor this trend and rapidly institute greater outreach in communities of color, which is reflected in a steady closing of the gap. Despite the progress made ( Figure 1 A), disparities that were noted nationally among second dose recipients were also noted in Louisiana ( Table 3 ), which has implications for optimum protection against mpox.…”

“…Other factors that may have contributed to the disparities observed include socioeconomic issues, messaging based on initial cases observed among men who have sex with men, vaccine eligibility constraints during the first few weeks of the outbreak, limited number of providers offering JYNNEOS, and cultural sensitivity issues. 16 Interestingly, people's risk of not completing the series also differed based on where they got their first dose. Vaccine strike teams were the most successful provider type in terms of administering the greatest number of doses overall, but patients who received their first dose at mobile events had one of the poorest rates of series completion ( Table 3 ).…”

Reducing Vaccination Disparities During a National Emergency Response: The US Mpox Vaccine Equity Pilot Program

“…A comparison of the vaccination-to-case ratios for White, Black, and Hispanic males also showed a disparity: White males had 43 vaccine doses for every 1 reported mpox case, but Black males had only 9 per case and Hispanic males had only 17 per case 15. The vaccine coverage shortfall (difference between 100% coverage and reported first-dose coverage) was largest among Black persons (78%), with slow progress to close this gap through April 2023 16…”