COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark will provide vaccines produced by Bavarian Nordic to close contacts of those infected with monkeypox, the Danish Health Authority told public broadcaster DR on Tuesday.
“The Health Authority will provide the vaccine to persons in close contact with the infected,” director Bolette Soborg told DR.
“The vaccine will be given after one has been exposed to the infected, and is meant to reduce the risk of a serious course of disease,” Soborg added.
It was not immediately clear whether Denmark had the vaccines in stock or whether authorities would need to procure the vaccines. The Health Authority and the Ministry of Health were not immediately able to comment when contacted by Reuters.
There have been more than 100 suspected or confirmed cases in Europe and North America of monkeypox – a disease usually found in west and central Africa – according to the World Health Organization. Denmark has registered two cases of monkeypox infection during the current outbreak.
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
