Monkeypox vaccine available in Switzerland

Switzerland has ordered 40,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine for the general public and a further 60,000 doses for the army. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

The first doses of vaccine to protect against monkeypox infections have arrived in Switzerland and are available in some cantons.

Some 4,000 doses were delivered to Switzerland in November and have been distributed to cantons Zurich, Basel City, Geneva and Vaud, which had seen the most infections.

This was followed by another shipment of 14,000 doses, allowing people in canton Bern to get shots from December 8.

The first case of monkeypox was recorded in Switzerland in May and there are currently around 550 people infected.

In October, the federal health authorities struck a deal with the company Bavarian Nordic to deliver 40,000 doses of vaccine.

A further 60,000 doses have been ordered for the army and are due to be delivered next year.

Pink Cross, the umbrella organisation of gay organisations, had repeatedly criticised the Swiss government for its delay in signing contracts to procure vaccines.

The group argued that vaccines have long been available in many European Union countries.

An earlier version of the article had a typo in the headline. This has now been corrected.