Following a recommendation from the EMA, the EU Commission approved the Imvanex vaccine. The first delivery arrived in Austria last week.
The EU Commission has approved the vaccine Imvanex against monkeypox. As a spokesman for the EU Commission confirmed, the authority followed a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency on Monday and approved the product from the company Bavarian Nordic to protect adults against monkeypox.
So far, the vaccine has only been approved at EU level to protect adults against smallpox. The current decision now applies to all 27 EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. On Friday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in The Hague spoke out in favor of extending the approval to include monkeypox. As a rule, the EU Commission follows these decisions.
The EU had recently concluded two contracts for a total of 163,620 doses of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine. In the USA, the preparation is approved under the name Jynneos. EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides recently expressed concern about the rapidly increasing number of cases in the EU. The WHO declared the monkeypox outbreak an “emergency of international concern” over the weekend.
Delivery arrived in Austria
A first delivery of 2,340 doses of the vaccine arrived in Austria on Tuesday. Another major shipment of Imvanex or Jynneos is expected in the coming weeks, the Health Ministry reported. The National Vaccination Committee currently only recommends vaccination for certain risk groups. The available doses are used as post-exposure prophylaxis after contact with a sick person, by specialized laboratory workers and by health workers at high risk of exposure.
Depending on availability, a vaccination can also be offered to people with individual risk behavior. Risky behavior occurs when people have frequent, alternating sexual contact. In Austria, men with same-sex partners are particularly affected by monkeypox.
(APA/dpa)