France to start targeted vaccination against monkeypox

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) – France will launch targeted vaccination of healthcare workers and contact cases of the monkeypox infection, Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon announced Wednesday.

Authorities have so far confirmed five cases of the virus, but Bourguignon assured that the Health Ministry was "not expecting an outbreak of the disease."

"For the time being, the situation is under control and we are on alert. Health professionals and establishments have been given the recommendations to identify, detect, report, and isolate cases at home," she told RTL New.

Bourguignon also affirmed her ministry will follow the recommendation of the French National Authority for Health (HAS), an independent public body, to vaccine adults and healthcare professionals after exposure to the disease.

She added that unlike the coronavirus, the vaccination against monkeypox will not be for the entire population but it will be a "targeted operation for caregivers and contact cases."

To reduce human-to-human transmission of the virus, the HAS on Tuesday recommended the implementation of a reactive vaccination strategy around a confirmed case, which includes adults who are in contact with an infected person and health professionals exposed who are considered to be at risk. It detailed that the vaccine must be ideally administered within four days after contact with the infected person and at most 14 days later.

Cases of monkeypox have appeared in several European countries, as well as the US, Canada and Australia.