Monkeypox vaccine soon available: gov’t

A monkeypox vaccine will soon be available to people 18 years-of-age or older, the Health Bureau (SSM) revealed at an orientation session for its frontline staff.

Similar to Covid-19 vaccines, Macau residents and those with valid permits to stay in Macau, such as working passes or a student visa, will be eligible to receive the vaccine.  There is an additional eligibility requirement that vaccine recipients must have engaged in certain types of at-risk sexual activity.

Vaccinations will be administered at health centers or stations. Bookings can be made directly to relevant health centers or stations.

Two doses will be required for those who have never received a cowpox vaccination. Those who have received a cowpox vaccine will only need a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine.

The SSM emphasized that all those born in Macau in or before 1980 had already received the cowpox vaccine.

According to the WHO, monkeypox spreads from person-to-person through close contact with someone who has a monkeypox rash.

Close contact can mean being face-to-face, such as talking, breathing or singing close to one another, which can generate droplets or short-range aerosols; skin-to-skin, such as touching or vaginal/anal sex; mouth-to-mouth, such as kissing; or mouth-to-skin contact, such as oral sex or kissing the skin.

Possible mechanisms of transmission through the air for monkeypox are not yet well understood and studies are underway to learn more, the WHO added.

Meanwhile, the SSM has recently held a session to introduce the vaccine to its frontline staff.