JakartaPost-Aug 29
The government has ordered thousands of doses of mpox vaccines from Denmark in an effort to prevent the illness’ spread, amid escalating global concern over the viral infection. A shipment of 1,600 vaccine doses, the second from the Scandinavian country, is expected to arrive next week, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Tuesday. Authorities placed the second order as the stock of the first batch of 1,000 doses dwindled, having been distributed to high-risk groups. The minister said the government would procure additional mpox vaccines from other countries that manufactured them, such as Japan. The Health Ministry previously said it would prepare 4,450 vaccine doses for 2,250 people, with each recipient getting two doses, a target higher than last year’s mpox vaccination figure of 495 people. Countries are scrambling to secure enough mpox vaccine doses to protect their populations. But they are difficult to come by for many high-risk people, with limited supplies and a price tag of around Rp 3.5 million (US$227) per dose. Indonesia recorded its first mpox case in 2022, with the patient contracting the less virulent clade II variant. Since then, 88 cases have been detected, with most of the patients having recovered, according to the Health Ministry. With few vaccine doses available worldwide, the ministry said only select groups of people would be eligible to receive the shot. The targeted recipients included men who had sex with men, medical workers and people who had been in recent contact with a presumed or confirmed mpox patient. For now, the vaccination will not be available to the wider public. “The mpox vaccine is currently in limited stock and will be prioritized in regions reporting cases,” the ministry’s immunization management director Prima Yosephine said in a statement on Wednesday. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/08/29/govt-orders-nearly-2000-doses-of-mpox-vaccine-from-denmark.html.
