(Reuters) – As more countries where monkeypox is not endemic report outbreaks of the viral disease, some governments have started offering vaccines to most exposed citizens.
There isn’t a specific vaccine for monkeypox, but data shows that vaccines that were used to eradicate smallpox are up to 85% effective against it, according to the World Health Organisation.
Below is a list of countries that have so far started to offer a vaccine or are stockpiling it:
EUROPE
* The European Union is working on a common purchasing agreement for vaccines and antivirals against monkeypox, a European Commission spokesperson said on May 27.
* The bloc’s drug regulator said on June 2 it was in talks with Bavarian Nordic over trial data that could underpin an extension of the approved use of the Imvanex shot, known as Jynneos in the United States, beyond smallpox to include monkeypox.
* Britain said on May 26 it had procured more than 20,000 doses of a vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic. It had on May 20 offered a smallpox vaccine to some healthcare workers and others who may have been exposed.
* Denmark said on May 25 it would receive 200 monkeypox vaccines from the Netherlands and was working on buying thousands more, as the country mulls vaccinating close contacts of those infected.
* France on May 25 recommended that health staff and at-risk adults who have been exposed to a monkeypox patient should be vaccinated.
* Germany’s vaccine advisory committee recommended on June 10 that people over 18 who have been exposed to or are at increased risk of infection receive the Imvanex vaccine. It had on May 24 ordered 40,000 doses of the shot to be ready to carry out ring vaccinations if the outbreak became more severe.
* Spain said on June 9 it would begin vaccinating close contacts of confirmed monkeypox cases and those with great risk of serious illness. Around 200 doses of the Imvanex vaccine arrived in Spain on June 6 and the government is waiting to buy more under the EU purchasing scheme.
NORTH AMERICA
* Canada on June 7 signed a $56 million contract with Bavarian Nordic for its smallpox vaccine, which is also approved for use against monkeypox in the country, with deliveries starting next year.
* The United States government has made an additional order for 500,000 doses of Jynneos, Bavarian Nordic said on June 10, which will bring the country’s total inventory to nearly 2 million vaccines.
(Compiled by Mariana Ferreira Azevedo and Luca Fratangelo in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi and Bernadette Baum)
