Federal officials on Tuesday urged anyone potentially exposed to a confirmed case of monkeypox in the last two weeks to get vaccinated, in hopes of slowing an outbreak that's grown to more than 300 confirmed cases in the United States.

Why it matters: Days after some local jurisdictions, like New York City, deployed their own vaccination strategies and ran out of shots, the federal government has committed to distributing 56,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine immediately to jurisdictions where outbreaks are the most severe.

Details: The expansion of vaccine eligibility allows not just close contacts identified by contact tracing to get vaccinated but those at highest risk, including men who have had sex with men and had multiple sex partners in a venue or area with known monkeypox cases.

What's next: Health officials are banking on the vaccine cutting further spread of the virus, while they expand testing efforts and do more community outreach.