Around 2700 vaccines against Monkeypox will be arriving in Portugal. Through the agency HERA, the European Commission signed a deal for the supply of Monkeypox vaccines for EU countries. The distribution of vaccines will be carried out proportionally to the population of different countries.
The distribution operation is still being developed with the European Commission but will prioritize the countries most affected. Currently, there are 240 cases of Monkeypox, known as Variola dos Macacos, in Portugal, making it the third member state in the European Union with the most cases.
The DGS has said that the National Vaccination Program, Technical Commission for Vaccination, and Infarmed are evaluated a vaccination strategy for the doses available to Portugal. It is still unclear how the vaccines will be distributed in Portugal.
According to DGS, all of the confirmed cases of Monkeypox in Portugal have been reported in men between the ages of 19 and 61, with most of them under the age of 40. Most cases were reported in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, with some cases in the north and the Algarve. All cases remain stable and under supervision.
On Tuesday, the European Commission announced that almost 110,000 doses of the vaccine have been attributed through a contract. The vaccines will be distributed proportionally to the population at the end of June. The contract includes distributing the Monkeypox vaccines to all EU member states, as well as Iceland and Norway.
The vaccine is called Imvanex, a third-generation vaccine that is currently approved in Europe to prevent smallpox, but that is also effective against Monkeypox.
According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the WHO, the virus “is behaving in an uncommon manner” due to the increase in cases in countries.
Since the beginning of the year, the WHO has registered over 1600 cases of Monkeypox in 39 countries, including 32 countries that had not previously registered outbreaks.