The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it has ordered another 2.5 million doses of monkeypox vaccine, as it expects the outbreak to grow in the coming weeks.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a press conference on Friday that more than 1,400 monkeypox infections had been confirmed in the United States.

Walensky said 131,000 new doses will be made immediately available to states and jurisdictions.

She said the US placed additional orders with Danish pharmaceuticals company Bavarian Nordic.

The federal government has ordered nearly 7 million doses so far. About 5 million doses are expected to become available from the end of this year to mid-2023.

The CDC says 12,333 cases of monkeypox were confirmed as of Friday in 62 countries and regions which have not reported monkeypox in the past.

Numbers are increasing in Western countries with Spain reporting 2,835, Germany 1,859 and UK 1,856. South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have also reported cases.

The World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee meeting of experts again next Thursday to discuss whether the current outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.