On the advice of the RIVM and the Expert Council, Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) has decided to offer high-risk groups a vaccine against the monkey pox virus. Kuipers wants to start “as soon as possible” with about two thousand people from the so-called HIV-PrEP target group in Amsterdam. Subsequently, transgender persons and men who frequently have sex with other men could also be vaccinated.
According to Kuipers, there are a total of 32,000 Dutch people who run an increased risk of coming into contact with the monkeypox virus.
The minister writes that the implementation of the vaccinations still needs to be well prepared. According to Kuipers, there is “a great willingness to vaccinate” among the target group, which contributes to the fight against the monkey pox outbreak in the Netherlands.
Kuipers hopes that the high-risk groups will be cautious. “It will take several weeks for the vaccine to provide protection, especially in people who need two vaccinations. The protection will not be complete after that either.”
The minister emphasizes that almost all infections are currently detected in men who have sex or other intimate contact with other men. He does not rule out the possibility that the virus will also spread outside that group as the virus spreads. “That is now incidentally the case,” said Kuipers, who points to an infection in a primary school student and one woman.
The spread of monkeypox virus accelerated in recent weeks
In total, more than four hundred infections with the monkey pox virus have been identified in the Netherlands. That number is increasing rapidly. In the past seven days, 114 infections came to light. That was almost the fastest weekly increase since the monkeypox virus first appeared in the Netherlands.
The number of cases has doubled in two weeks. RIVM warned last week that the upcoming pride events in Amsterdam and other cities could lead to “more intensive spread” of the monkeypox virus within the Netherlands. Several pride events will take place in the coming month.