Faced with the increase in monkeypox cases and the difficulties in tracing contamination chains, France has extended vaccination to the most exposed population categories. However, health authorities are facing a growing number of critics who report difficulties in getting an appointment. Several associations, such as Act Up-Paris or Aides, call for “a ‘coup’ campaign” that allows liberal health professionals in particular to be vaccinated.
The General Directorate of Health (DGS), for its part, acknowledges the delays in getting vaccinated. However, she wants to be reassuring: 30,000 doses of smallpox vaccine have been liquidated, 20,000 of which are already “in the field”, BFMTV.com learned this Thursday, confirming information from Franceinfo and Stubborn. The additional 10,000 doses are to be shipped to the field “by the end of the week.”
Almost 1,500 cases in France
Insufficient, for the Aides association, which affirms at the same time that 100,000 to 300,000 people would need to benefit from a smallpox vaccine in France. As of July 19, 1,453 cases had been identified in France.
A figure comparable to that indicated by the High Health Authority (HAS), which in its opinion of July 7 estimated the population of men who have sex with men (MSM) with multiple partners in the last 6 months at 250,000 people. These are precisely part of the categories most exposed to the disease, and for which vaccination has recently been extended.
“That is a need for 300,000 doses,” according to Marc Dixneuf, general director of the association to fight HIV/AIDS, interviewed by Têtu. “Community pharmacists must be put into play, because it is necessary that in a few weeks all the people who need it be vaccinated.”
The European Commission announced on Monday the purchase of an additional 54,530 doses of the monkeypox vaccine as part of its contract with a Danish laboratory, concerned about an increase in cases of “almost 50%” in the EU within a week. . The number of doses purchased on behalf of European countries now stands at 163,620, the European executive said in a press release.
A distant cousin of smallpox, but considered much less dangerous, monkeypox usually clears up on its own in two to three weeks. It is characterized by rashes – which can appear on the genitals or in the mouth – and may be accompanied by fever, sore throat or sore lymph nodes.
Source: BFM TV
