Federal government secures monkeypox vaccines – 40,000 doses ordered

The federal government has signed a contract with the company Bavarian Nordic for the supply of vaccine doses against monkey pox. To stem the spread of monkey pox, Switzerland is buying 40,000 cans, the Federal Office of Health announced Friday.

The first cans will be delivered at the beginning of November, the other cans towards the end of the year. The live vaccine, which is based on a weakened smallpox virus, is primarily intended for use in people at risk.

Another 60,000 cans were purchased for the military. The delivery of these doses will take place in 2023. The Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) purchases the vaccine Jynneos in collaboration with the army pharmacy.

The vaccine doses will arrive in Switzerland in the coming weeks and then be delivered to the cantons by the army pharmacy. The cantons are then responsible for the modalities of vaccination and for informing the population.

In addition, as before, the target group will be informed in connection with AIDS aid. Together with the Federal Commission on Vaccination Issues, the FOPH recommends vaccination as a preventive measure for men who have sex with men and for transgender people with varying sexual partners.

The vaccine is also recommended as a preventive measure for people exposed to monkeypox for professional reasons, ie medical personnel or workers in special laboratories, as the FOPH further states.

The same applies to contact persons of the sick. This is intended to break the chains of infection and protect children, pregnant women and other persons at risk. It is currently unknown whether vaccination can prevent all monkey pox symptoms or the transmission of the virus.

The cost of the vaccine will be borne by the federal government for the time being until the conditions are created to cover mandatory health insurance.

To date, more than 500 cases of monkey pox have been recorded in Switzerland. The patients are almost exclusively men. The cantons of Vaud, Geneva and Zurich are the most affected. The number of new cases of monkeypox occurring every week is decreasing in Switzerland and in Europe.

Bavarian Nordic is a Danish-German company specializing in the production of vaccines. It is the only company to date to have developed an approved monkeypox vaccine. The US Department of Health has invested $11 million in Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos product.

The organization Pink Cross, the Swiss umbrella organization for gay and bisexual men, was relieved to learn of the federal government’s vaccine decision. In neighboring countries, the substance has been vaccinated against monkey pox since mid-July. Roze Kruis demands that the purchasing debacle be investigated afterwards. (sda)