EUROPE
EU secures over 54,000 additional vaccine doses against monkeypox

As monkeypox cases in the EU almost double in a week, the European Commission’s Health Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) secured over 54,000 additional vaccine doses against the virus.

On Monday (18 July), the Commission announced that HERA secured 54,530 doses of the company Bavarian Nordic’s third-generation vaccine, now bringing the total number of doses purchased for member states to respond to the ongoing monkeypox outbreak to 163,620.

“We have now secured over 160,000 doses of vaccines to respond promptly to the progression of the spread of this virus. This is the European Health Union delivering for our citizens,” health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.

Vaccines were bought through HERA using EU4Health programme funds. So far, six EU countries have received vaccines, with around 25,000 distributed in total. Spain received 5,300, Germany over 5,000, Belgium 3,400, Sweden 2,700, Ireland 1,400 and Italy over 1,000, the commission’s spokesperson announced on Monday, adding that the deliveries of these vaccines are ongoing.

Europe remains an epicentre of the current monkeypox outbreak outside endemic countries. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) press briefing on 12 July, 9,200 cases across 63 countries had been registered. On 15 July, UK-based research organisation Our World in Data reported over 12,000 cumulative cases worldwide.

As of Monday, over 7,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in the EU, “an almost 50% increase since a week ago,” Kyriakides said.

Deliveries of the vaccine are slated to continue over the coming weeks and months, guided by the case rates observed in member states, alongside Norway and Iceland. Vaccine doses will be allocated according to the population of each country, as was done throughout the COVID-19 response.

Vaccines will not be used for mass inoculation, but instead made available to certain at-risk groups. A spokesperson for the Commission explained that as the virus spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, “transmissibility of the risk from  the virus is not comparable, for instance, to the risks that we know in the context of COVID.”

EMA reviews another vaccine against monkeypox

To ensure vaccines reach at-risk groups, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP) is continuing a review of Imvanex, which is currently authorised in the EU for the prevention of smallpox, to include protection from monkeypox.

“It is considered a relevant and effective vaccine also for monkeypox, based on our knowledge from animal experiments and similarity with a smallpox virus,” said Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccines strategy at the  EMA, on 7 July.

Sylvie Briand, director of the global infectious hazard preparedness department at the WHO,  confirmed that a “vaccine for smallpox can be used for monkeypox with a high level of efficacy”.

However, as stockpiles of the vaccine are currently very limited within the bloc, the EMA’s Emergency Task Force (ETF) has recommended the use Jynneos, the US’ version of Imvanex. Jynneos is authorised for the prevention of both monkeypox and smallpox in the US.

“We have given a positive recommendation on the use of the importing vaccine for emergency use as a temporary measure. This will allow member states to vaccinate at-risk groups already now,” Cavaleri stressed.

Source: Euractiv.com

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