In fight against monkeypox, government isn’t learning from past experience

Health workers sit at a check-in table at a pop-up monkeypox vaccination clinic that opened at the West Hollywood Library on Aug. 3. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Monkeypox has swept the country at an alarming rate, with nearly 7,000 cases reported as of early August. In response, the Biden administration has declared the monkeypox outbreak a national health emergency. Unlike COVID-19, monkeypox is not a novel disease and has two Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines.

Unfortunately, the administration has made several key mistakes that show it has not learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.