On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight,” White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator Dr. Demetre Daskalakis stated that the increase in monkeypox cases “shows that the virus really has really been characterized by lots of twists and turns.” And that “the thought was that you start a monkeypox outbreak and you really focus on vaccinating people, people’s contacts. And when it became clear that that wasn’t feasible, because not everyone knew who their contacts were, we had to pivot and really switch our strategy to think about really extending how we use vaccine[s] in a different way.”
Host Don Lemon asked, “So, Doctor, back in July, we saw 40 to 50 cases reported each day. Now, we’re seeing hundreds, even 1,000 reported every day. Does this data show that the administration is behind the ball in battling this virus?”
Daskalakis responded, “I think it shows that the virus really has really been characterized by lots of twists and turns. So, I think this is not a monkeypox outbreak like any that’s been seen before in the world. So, I think what we’re seeing is really a lot of work to catch up from the perspective of making sure that we are on top of testing, on top of vaccines, and also on top of treatment. So, I think that it’s been a lot of pivots. So, I think we expect a monkeypox outbreak to do one thing, and then when we learned that it was doing something else, we had to pivot. Then we had some real limits and challenges in terms of what we had accessible for vaccines. And that’s really turned around, with a lot of work in lots of domains, including getting more vaccine produced, but also extending the vaccine that we have, by making one vial go five doses.”
Lemon then asked, “You said, your words were you’re saying that you haven’t seen a monkeypox outbreak like this in the world, ever. So, the question is, why didn’t the administration act sooner then? I mean, you said you had to pivot, I’m wondering how, because the first case was reported in the U.S., that was way back in May, you were just named the head of the response at the beginning of this month, doctor?”
Daskalakis answered, “I’ve actually been engaged in the response since before the first case, when I was at the CDC working on this response. … I was able to engage really early on. And what I mean by the monkeypox outbreak is a lot different than what one expects is, that really, the thought was that you start a monkeypox outbreak and you really focus on vaccinating people, people’s contacts. And when it became clear that that wasn’t feasible, because not everyone knew who their contacts were, we had to pivot and really switch our strategy to think about really extending how we use vaccine[s] in a different way. And so, then, as that unfolded and cases increased, we had to pivot again and really identify ways to increase vaccine access, when there were real limits on production. So, I think that really, it’s been a story about a very unprecedented outbreak and challenges, with a lot of changes. And so, I think we’re at this point right now where the epidemiology is telling us the population that is being affected, so gay, bisexual, other men who have sex with men. It’s telling us that we need to use vaccine[s] in a way that really addresses, not only contacts, but in a more broad way. And I think, from the perspective of testing, we’ve seen a really significant increase in access to testing. So, I think that we really, I think, moved urgently. And I think that the sort of new level of coordination that we’re bringing here, myself and Bob Fenton, really is designed to accelerate and make this response very efficient.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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