Federal health officials are strategically positioning monkeypox vaccine doses across the country in response to a growing number of cases, the deputy director of public health said Thursday.
Dr. Howard Njoo told a news conference that there are now 26 confirmed cases of smallpox in Canada, 25 in Quebec and one in Ontario.
The virus can cause rashes, fatigue, muscle aches, fever and headaches. It is often transmitted by close contact with an infected person, especially an exchange of body fluids, but can also spread through the air or through surfaces.
Njoo said that while the risk of infection to the general population is low, health officials are monitoring the virus closely and want to be able to deploy vaccines quickly in response to outbreaks.
“After discussions between all health care physicians in Canada, we have decided to take a specific approach to vaccination and treatment,” Njoo said.
“We have made rapid progress in prepping limited supplies of vaccines and therapeutics from our National Emergency Strategic Storage, or NESS, to jurisdictions across the country.”
TARGET | The government has no plans for a monkeypox vaccine campaign
The government has no plans for a monkeypox vaccine campaign
Deputy Public Health Director Dr. Howard Njoo told a news conference that Canada does not want to launch a vaccine campaign on monkeypox.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has already shipped 1,000 doses of the IMVAMUNE vaccine to Quebec, as well as a supply of the antiviral drug Tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX.
Njoo did not say how many doses of vaccine have been sent to other provinces. He said the PHAC is working with provinces and territories to determine their needs.
“We need to make sure that the vaccine can arrive in a short course of time if there is a need or demand in a specific province or territory, depending on cases and contacts that are at high risk,” he said.
Njoo said PHAC does not see the need for a mass vaccination campaign right now.
Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, said Thursday that the province would begin offering the vaccine to high-risk people.
Quebec confirmed 25 cases on Thursday, all of them linked to the greater Montreal area.
In a press release Thursday, the Quebec government said the province received the doses on Tuesday.
“High-risk contacts of a confirmed or probable case of monkeypox, as defined by public health authorities, may be vaccinated with a single dose of the IMVAMUNE vaccine within four days of exposure.” says the statement.
“The second dose can only be given if the risk of exposure is still present 28 days later. The doses offered will only be given after a decision by the public health authorities.”
Smallpox is derived from the same virus that causes smallpox, which was eradicated in 1977.
Njoo acknowledged that the outbreak of smallpox in Canada may be alarming to some people, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He said the viruses that cause COVID-19 and monkeypox are transmitted differently.
“At this point, certainly based on what we’ve seen so far with epidemiology, [monkeypox] It seems to be limited to certain people who have obviously been involved in activities involving close contact, “he said.” But there does not appear to be any evidence of what I would call a more general spread in the community. “
Although viruses are not the same, transmission can be prevented by many of the same practices used to control the COVID-19 pandemic: washing hands, physically distancing oneself, and wearing a mask. especially in public spaces.
The Winnipeg National Microbiology Laboratory is completing the sequencing of smallpox samples to help understand how the virus is spreading, Njoo added.