A particularly deadly form of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, has led to more than 48,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths in Africa this year.
The Biden administration has donated one million doses of the vaccine to affected countries. But in the United States, mpox vaccines are out of reach for many people who need them.
In the 2022 outbreak that reached this country, doses of the mpox vaccine, Jynneos, were made available for free from the federal stockpile.
That arrangement ended in April, when the vaccine became available commercially. But insurance companies do not yet cover the vaccine or, if they do, reimburse only a tiny fraction of the cost.