You have the power to keep local news strong for the coming months. Your financial support today keeps our reporters ready to meet the needs of our city. Thank you for investing in your community.

Stories like these are only possible with your help!

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

Last week, the FDA authorized a new method of administering the Jynneos smallpox vaccine, which is being used to prevent monkeypox amid the ongoing outbreak. The FDA now allows health care providers to split a one-dose vial of the monkeypox vaccine into five doses administered between layers of skin — what's known as an intradermal injection — rather than into the muscle as is currently done.

Monkeypox in California As of Aug. 16, California has reported 2,356 probable and confirmed monkeypox cases. L.A. County has reported 901 confirmed cases.

The shift was good news for vaccine-strapped jurisdictions because it meant what little supply is available could be stretched much further.

Now, Los Angeles County has been informed that its monkeypox vaccine allotment is being slashed to just 40% of the doses public health officials requested from the federal government. The significant reduction comes as cases climb to over 990.

What Happened

L.A. County was supposed to receive 14,000 vials of the Jynneos vaccine this week which would have yielded 70,000 doses for eligible residents. Instead, the county will now receive 5,600 vials, which will yield 28,000 doses.

The move was presented federal health officials as a way to stretch the extremely limited supply of the vaccine and allow five times as many people to be vaccinated with existing supplies. But the shift by the FDA from allotting vials to allotting doses, took local public health officials by surprise.

At a news conference last week, L.A. County health officials said they expected the full shipment and with it could fully vaccinate up to 90,000 people — about half of what it believes to be the at-risk population. Now with far fewer vaccine doses, that goal may take weeks to achieve.

Other cities also got word that expected vaccine shipments would be significantly less. The city of Philadelphia expected to receive 3,600 vials, but will instead receive just over 700.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said Monday “we have thousands of people who are at risk that should be vaccinated preventively before they get exposed.”

“We are advocating to our federal partners to reconsider and restore Philadelphia’s allocation of vaccine, which is urgently needed,” Bettigole said.

What Few Doses Mean On The Ground

L.A. County was an early adopter of the new dosing and injection strategy.

“We communicated that Public Health would implement these changes when the next tranche of doses were received, but if providers felt ready to implement the new strategy, they could proceed,” says the department’s statement.

L.A. County Public Health said they received assurances from federal leadership that more doses would be available in the coming weeks. But fewer doses means eligibility for the scarce vaccines will remain tight.

Public health will begin to offer second doses to an estimated 8,000 people who received their first dose at least 28 days ago. Those who were vaccinated through a Public Health vaccine site will receive a text message. Patients are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second shot.

The majority of the known monkeypox cases are among men who have sex with men.