EU secures additional stocks of monkeypox vaccine as cases rise

The European Union has secured additional doses of a vaccine designed to combat monkeypox, the European Commission announced in Brussels on Monday.

The commission said the relevant authority had arranged the purchase of 54,530 third-generation vaccine doses from the company,  Bavarian Nordic.

A total of 163,620 doses are now available for the 27 member states plus Norway and Iceland.

“I am concerned by the increasing number of monkeypox cases in the EU.

“We now have over 7,000 cases in the EU, an almost 50 per cent increase since a week ago,” Stella Kyriakides Health and Food Safety Commissioner said.

The EU bought 110,000 in June, with 25,000 already distributed to six member states.

Vaccination was  being recommended for certain high-risk groups of people and those in close contact with infected persons.

Medical officials said the outbreak seemed  to be concentrated among men who have had sexual contact with multiple other men, although anyone could  get it.

The treatable disease featured a rash that could look like pimples or blisters.

The lesions usually first appear on the face before forming on other parts of the body.