ECDC Urges EU Member States To Plan For Monkeypox Jabs

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is expected to recommend that European Union member countries should prepare vaccination plans for monkeypox, The Financial Times reported.

The advice will be included in a risk assessment to be published on Monday, according to the ECDC.

Member countries will be advised to use existing smallpox vaccines until monkeypox jabs are created, as the inoculations have offered some form of cross-protection, the media outlet said.

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The Stockholm-based ECDC noted it was “not an easy decision” to recommend smallpox vaccination of close monkeypox contacts at this stage and said a risk-benefit analysis for each affected individual should be undertaken.

The vaccine available in the EU, Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic’s Imvanex, is not authorised for use against monkeypox and there is no safety data on its use in those who are immunocompromised or in young children, those at highest risk from the disease, the ECDC said.

Read more via The Financial Times