Some people in Thunder Bay will soon be able to get vaccinated against monkeypox, even though there are still no confirmed cases of the virus in the region.
“A couple of tests were done, but it wasn’t monkey pox,” said Dr. Janet DeMille, medical director of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. “That’s very reassuring. We continue to work hard with the province on how to understand transmission.”
As of Tuesday, there were 423 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Ontario, according to Public Health Ontario. The agency’s latest report says the majority of cases, nearly 78 percent, were reported in Toronto.
Almost all affected people are men, with only two cases reported in female patients. Public Health Ontario says the average age of confirmed cases is just under 36.
DeMille said the Thunder Bay health unit hopes to receive doses of a monkeypox vaccine soon. However, he added, it will likely be a small amount to begin with and will only be available to high-risk groups.
Solid update on the strengthening of the COVID-19
Meanwhile, DeMille said the TBDHU is seeing good uptake of the second doses of the COVID-19 booster.
“We certainly continue to encourage those who are at greater risk, including those who are over 60 and anyone who is immunocompromised or [has] underlying health issues,” DeMille said. “We’ve had a lot of people come forward and that’s really nice to see.”
Uptake among 18- to 59-year-olds has been slower, DeMille said.
“There is a benefit in terms of adding more protection for these people,” he said. “But because they are younger and perhaps less likely to have serious illnesses, there may be less benefit overall.”
However, DeMille noted that a new vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant could be available in September.
“It will start with those who are at higher risk, the elderly and long-term care homes, for example,” he said. “But at this point, we have no real confirmation of the actual dates.”
DeMille said that as of mid-July, the majority of active cases of COVID-19 in the Thunder Bay region were the BA.5 variant, which is a subvariant of Omicron.