The Danish National Health Council wants to offer the vaccine to people who have been in close contact with patients infected with the virus that causes monkeypox. The statement was made after the Scandinavian country confirmed two cases of people infected with the virus on Tuesday, 24.

“The vaccine should be given after exposure to infection and should reduce the risk of a serious outbreak of the disease,” Bolette Søborg, chief physician of the National Health Council, told Danish TV broadcaster DR.

According to the Danish Health and Medicines Agency, the monkeypox vaccine from the Danish Bavarian Nordic company will be used.

“There is no need to increase production demand for this vaccine, as we already have a large stock and can produce millions of vaccines right now,” says Rolf Sass Sørensen, vice president of Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic.

The Danish Ministry of Health did not disclose the purchase of an extra dose of the vaccine. Nor are the Scandinavian country’s health authorities expecting a large-scale outbreak of monkeypox.

high demand for vaccine

As the only company with a vaccine approved by the Danish Health Authority for smallpox prevention, the Bavarian Nordic company is at the forefront of the fight against current smallpox epidemics worldwide.

Last week (19), the pharmaceutical company announced that it would supply a vaccine against monkeypox to a European country, but did not disclose its name.

In addition, the Bavarian Nordic received inquiries from many other countries affected by monkeypox. The United States government alone announced on the last day (20) that it has ordered approximately 13 million doses of vaccine against the disease from the Danish pharmaceutical company.

So far, 100 suspected or confirmed cases have been reported in Europe and North America – monkeypox, a disease commonly found in western and central Africa, according to the World Health Organization.