What's orthopox?
Orthopox is a genus of viruses that cause diseases like smallpox, monkeypox, cowpox, horsepox, and camelpox (but notably not chickenpox, which was named before we knew it wasn’t related). While there are a couple brands of vaccine, they all either cover or reduce the symptoms of all orthopoxviruses. There is no particular monkeypox or smallpox vaccine- these names are just used as clarification. When I said I gave an orthopoxvirus vaccine, I was giving it particularly for monkeypox as a post-exposure measure to prevent severe illness.
One cool thing about this vaccine is that while normal subcutaneous administration requires 0.5ml of vaccine, if you administer it between the top and middle layers of skin, you only have to give 0.1ml (essentially forcing the body to create a pock in that space) which greatly increases the number of doses that can be given out of one vial while still being effective.
The word “vaccine” actually comes from the name of the virus from which modern orthopoxvirus vaccines are made- vaccinia (a present day virus closely related to modern horsepox. *not* cowpox as commonly claimed).
