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Monkeypox vaccines to be delivered to Cyprus by end of July

20/06/2022 09:00

By the end of June EU member states are expected to start receiving the monkeypox vaccines, EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Friday, noting that all member states, including Cyprus, will receive them by July.

In a statement after a meeting with Health Minister Michael Hadjipantela, the Health Commissioner explained that the vaccines will be distributed according to needs and outbreaks, adding that each member state will request the number of vaccines it needs.

According to Kyriakides, "at the moment there are countries that have a higher number of cases and that is where priority will be given."

Moreover, referring to the protocol, which has been provided by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), she clarified that "we are not referring to a vaccination programme, as happened with COVID-19".

"We are talking about protecting individuals who are in the very close environment of someone who has had monkeypox, we are not talking about a population-based vaccination program, as with COVID-19, but we're talking about a protection net, for individuals in the very close environment of a person who has contracted this disease," she said.

She also noted that "the risk in the general population is low at the moment" but assured that the course of the disease is being monitored daily.

Finally, Kyriakides said that although there had been no cases in Cyprus, the ministry has been monitoring the issue very closely from the beginning.