The Health Bureau is considering whether to procure monkey pox vaccines, as well as other measures against the disease, bureau director Alvis Lo revealed over the weekend.
Hong Kong has recently recorded its first imported monkey pox infection, as has mainland China. Concerns about the situation were raised in Macau at the weekly health press briefing on Covid-19 infections.
The Health Bureau is studying the necessity of monkeypox vaccines, the quantity needed and the target recipients, said Lo at an event over the weekend.
Discussing target recipients for the vaccine, Lo, a pulmonologist, said the WHO has not mandated or recommended population-wide vaccination against monkey pox. Moreover, local residents aged 40 or older have been vaccinated against smallpox, which provides some immunity against monkey pox.
For now, the bureau will target medical staff caring for monkey pox patients, as well as young people who “conduct certain special activities.” He added the bureau’s expert team is considering including only high-risk groups for vaccination.
The bureau director did not clarify what “special activities” he was referring to, but the WHO has reiterated that no group of people should be discriminated against based on their potential risks of contracting the monkey pox virus.
Lo also describe monkey pox symptoms which include fever, headache, muscle ache and a rash resembling the chickenpox rash. The incubation period of the disease ranges from one to two weeks, he added.
The pulmonologist said the current priority is to improve awareness of the disease among medical staff, to enable early intervention.
On the government’s response to the June 18 Covid-19 outbreak, the pulmonologist said the response was based on the planning for major outbreaks released in April, and included adjustments for actual situations.
He said the bureau is collecting feedback from parties that participated in the response. After combining them with the Chinese planning released in June, updates will be made to local plans.
At a different occasion, Cultural Affairs Bureau president Leong Wai Man revealed that all arts and culture venues will return to the bureau’s control by October 31, after having being used for the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test drive. AL
