The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday that it will not renew the public health emergency declaration for the monkeypox outbreak when it expires early next year.
The decision is framed by the low number of positive cases currently being reported, which is why HHS has ruled out extending the measure, according to The Hill.
«Given the low number of cases today, HHS does not expect it will need to renew the emergency declaration when it ends on Jan. 31, 2023. But we will not take our foot off the gas, will continue to monitor case trends closely, and will encourage everyone at risk to get a free vaccine,» HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
HHS has confirmed that this decision was based on «current data,» adding that it would «not be afraid» to change course if conditions change in the future.
The statement was last renewed once in November, when Becerra justified the move by citing the «continuing consequences of an outbreak of monkeypox cases in several states.»
Even then, however, there were some indications that the Biden Administration was backtracking on the national monkeypox response, according to the newspaper.
Without treatments manufactured specifically for monkeypox, health care workers in the United States and other countries have made use of vaccines and treatments commonly used for smallpox, which belongs to the same family of viruses to which mpox belongs.
