Health has administered 27 monkeypox vaccines after receiving 1,500 doses last week

“Here it is planned that it be a vaccination limited to the populations that are identified as being at greater risk of infection, which is why it poses some limitations. It will not be like with other vaccines that have an indication for a wide range of people and there are also no unlimited supplies.”, explained the infectologist.

Dr. Guiot is concerned about the lack of guidance that some patients have received at service centers designated to vaccinate. “When we called some of the 23 centers that had been informed, the operationalization of how the vaccine was going to be administered was still not entirely clear. Some have not responded and others say they don’t have the vaccine,” he said.

“We are concerned because it has been identified that the growth of this virus, at a global level, has been much more accelerated than the authorities expected. Really, if you’re in an emergency like this, every day counts.Guiot warned.

In addition, Cardona explained that there are specific categories to identify people who need the vaccine right now. The first category, with the clinical designation of “post-exposure prophylaxis”, is for those people who had contact with a confirmed case. Of those cases, she shared that four people have been vaccinated.

The second (enlarged post-exposure prophylaxis) covers cases of people in whom direct contact has not been identified, but “they have engaged in risk activities, such as participating in crowded activities, having had intimate contact, very close at parties or private activities. with strangers or through social media platforms.”

Cardona indicated that the third category to be inoculated would be for anyone who had multiple sexual partners in the last two or three weeks. Cardona stressed that Health has a network of over 500 traditional vaccine service providers, which would be expanded if the level of contagion increases.