The European Commission said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement for some 110,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine from Danish biotechnology firm Bavarian Nordic.
Cases of the disease, which is endemic in parts of Africa, began to appear in Europe and the United States last month. Some 900 patients have been infected in the EU alone.
The commission’s health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, announced the order on Tuesday, saying the order would be bought with EU funds and delivered to member states by the end of June.
Monkeypox drew international attention after recent outbreaks in several countries where it had never been seen before.
The agreement was reached through the Health Emergency Response and Preparedness Authority (HERA) of the bloc, which was formed to avoid mistakes made in the EU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines and antivirals against the disease will also be provided to non-bloc members in Norway and Iceland.
How serious is the latest outbreak?
The current international outbreak has seen more than 1,600 confirmed cases, mainly in Europe, but also in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Usually, the disease is only found and transmitted in the regions where it is endemic by bites from rodents or small animals.
It is not usually easily transmitted, but is understood to be transmitted through close contact with an infected person.
Germany is considering preventive vaccinations for anyone considered at high risk of coming into contact with the disease.
The high-risk category includes men who have sex with a changing male partner, but also specialized lab staff who work with infectious samples that contain monkeypox.
While the disease can be fatal, it can also be treated. Symptoms include fever, headaches, and pus-filled skin lesions.
The World Health Organization has described the spread of smallpox smallpox as a “contained situation”, and WHO official Rosamund Lewis has said there is no evidence that the virus has mutated.
rc / dj (Reuters, dpa)