U.S. to ship 144,000 more monkeypox shots and expand testing as cases top 700

The U.S. is stepping up its efforts to address the snowballing monkeypox outbreak — the country's largest to date by far, with 700 confirmed cases.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that it will distribute 144,000 doses of the two-shot Jynneos vaccine, which is approved for monkeypox and smallpox, to cities and states starting Monday. That's on top of 56,000 doses the department made available last week, of which 41,000 have been delivered.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also announced Wednesday that Labcorp has begun testing for monkeypox at its main lab in North Carolina, which can accept samples from across the country. Labcorp expects to be able to perform up to 10,000 tests a week, the CDC said, which would double the country's testing capacity.

Four other commercial labs are expected to begin testing in the coming weeks, as well, according to HHS.