Pocan, Jacobs, 46 Colleagues Urge Rubio to Deliver Mpox Vaccines Before They Expire

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Sara Jacobs (CA-53) led a letter with 46 of their colleagues to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to distribute all remaining viable mpox vaccines from the United States that were promised to African countries currently experiencing outbreaks.

“Nearly 800,000 doses of the mpox vaccine that were originally pledged by the United States to African nations may go to waste,” the Members wrote. “Critically, an estimated 220,000 of these vaccines could still be viable if the State Department acts without delay to ship these vaccines immediately.”

“As you are aware, the current mpox outbreak in Africa has resulted in over 47,000 confirmed cases and nearly 1,900 suspected deaths, many among them children who are disproportionately impacted,” the Members continued. “While the United States has largely contained its mpox outbreak, the unchecked spread in African communities poses a serious and growing global health threat – including to our own nation.”

“This is a moral, strategic, and public health failure in the making,” the Members concluded. “Your agency has an ever-shortening window of opportunity to act decisively and deliver lifesaving vaccines to people who need them. Letting these vaccines expire while sitting on shelves is indefensible, wasting taxpayer-funded doses, undermining the United States’ credibility abroad, and contradicting the entirety of your work while in the Senate.”

A full copy of the letter can be found here.

The list of signers includes: Mark Pocan (WI-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Ami Bera (CA-6), Don Beyer (VA-08), Sean Casten (IL-06), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Jim Costa (CA-21), Danny Davis (IL-07), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Dwight Evans (PA-3), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Al Green (TX-09), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Julie Johnson (TX-32), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NE-03), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Sarah McBride (DE-At Large), Jim McGovern (MA-02), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Jerry Nadler (NY-10), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Johnny Olszewski (MD-02), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Brad Sherman, (CA-32), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Mark Takano (CA-39), Mike Thompson (CA-04), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica Wilson (FL-24)

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.