MONDAY, June 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Achieving equitable progress in vaccination for mpox will require decreases in shortfalls among racial and ethnic minorities, according to research published in the June 9 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Noting that lower vaccination coverage rates were reported among racial and ethnic minority groups during the initial months of the outbreak and that coverage increased among these groups after implementation of initiatives developed to expand access, Krishna Kiran Kota, Ph.D., from the CDC Mpox Emergency Response Team, and colleagues conducted a shortfall analysis to examine whether the increase was equitable across all racial and ethnic groups.

The researchers found that during May 2022 to April 2023, the mpox vaccination shortfall decreased among all racial and ethnic groups; however, 66.0 percent of vaccine-eligible persons remained unvaccinated at the end of the period based on an analysis of vaccine administration data. The shortfall was largest among non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native persons (77.9 and 74.5 percent, respectively), followed by non-Hispanic White and Hispanic or Latino persons (66.6 and 63.0 percent, respectively), and it was lowest among non-Hispanic Asian and non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander persons (38.5 and 43.7 percent, respectively). During August and September, the largest percentage decreases in the shortfall were achieved (17.7 and 8.5 percent, respectively); however, smaller percentage decreases were achieved among Black persons during those months (12.2 and 4.9 percent, respectively).

“A focus on achieving equal reductions in shortfalls is needed to achieve equitable progress in mpox vaccination coverage,” the authors write.

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