Countries ‘rushed’ to hoard monkeypox vaccine

Britain has given 1,000 doses of the vaccine to people in close contact with monkeypox cases and has another 3,500 ready in case it is needed. In France, this country also announced earlier this week that it was vaccinating similar groups of people to prevent an outbreak of the disease.

In the context of a pandemic COVID-19 Still not completely controlled and the potential risk of infectious diseases, health officials in all countries are very cautious with the current monkeypox outbreak, as well as ready stockpiles of vaccines in the field. severe disease progression. Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic, the world’s only producer of the monkeypox vaccine, said a large number of countries have been contacted to order the vaccine.

Given the unusual outbreaks of monkeypox in countries where the disease is not endemic, the World Health Organization is calling on countries to strengthen surveillance, tracing and management of cases, and to warn Report the negative effects of stockpiling drugs and vaccines when cases are still relatively low.

Although currently available vaccines and approved treatments for smallpox are worldwide, they are extremely limited, according to the World Health Organization’s director for disease and pandemic control, Sylvie Briand. and some are not yet fully licensed to put on the market.

Mrs Briand said: “We are concerned there will be community transmission but it is difficult to assess the risk at the moment. However, if we take the right measures now, we might be able to prevent this easily. I don’t think this is a disease that the public has to worry about, it’s not like COVID-19 or other diseases that spread quickly. So all the advice now is not to create anxiety in the public but to raise awareness and make sure we all know what the immediate risks are and that we can take the necessary steps. appropriate measures in a timely manner”.

The World Health Organization is expected to work with Member States on the possibility of developing a stockpile for equitable sharing of vaccines and treatments similar to those used for yellow fever, meningitis, and cholera in countries that cannot afford it.

There are still many unanswered questions about what caused the unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox outside of Africa, but there is also no evidence that any genetic change in the virus is to blame. .

Earlier this week, a top adviser to the World Health Organization said that outbreaks in Europe, the US, Israel, Australia, etc. could be linked to unsafe sex. This represents a significant departure from the typical transmission pattern of the disease in Central and West Africa, which is mainly spread by animals such as rodents or wild primates. .