The EU Commission has approved the vaccine Imvanex against monkeypox. As a spokesman for the EU Commission confirmed, the authority followed a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency on Monday and approved the product from the company Bavarian Nordic to protect adults against monkeypox. Previously, Bavarian Nordic had made the decision public.
So far, the vaccine has only been approved at EU level to protect adults against smallpox. However, Germany and some other countries had already granted national exemptions for use against monkeypox.
The current decision now applies to all 27 EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. On Friday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in The Hague spoke out in favor of extending the approval to include monkeypox. As a rule, the EU Commission follows these decisions.
The EU had recently concluded two contracts for a total of 163,620 doses of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine. In the USA, the preparation is approved under the name Jynneos.
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides recently expressed concern about the rapidly increasing number of cases in the EU. The WHO declared the monkeypox outbreak an “emergency of international concern” over the weekend.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) writes: “It still seems possible to limit the current outbreak in Germany if infections are recognized in good time and precautionary measures are implemented.” According to RKI information from Monday, 2352 cases of monkeypox are registered in Germany.
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) in Germany recommends vaccination against monkeypox for certain risk groups and people who have had close contact with infected people. She sees an increased risk of infection in men who have same-sex sexual contact with changing partners.
