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Switzerland drags feet on supplying mpox vaccine to Africa

Switzerland has no immediate plans to deliver vaccines to countries heavily affected by the mpox viral infection, despite calls from the World Health Organization for richer nations to share vaccine stocks.

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However, the situation is being closely monitored, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) told Keystone-ATS.

Switzerland has purchased 40,000 doses of vaccine, which have been distributed to the cantons. To date, 13,000 doses have been administered, according to the FOPH.

+ WHO calls for fair and equal access to mpox vaccines

On Friday, WHO asked countries with vaccine stocks to distribute them to countries affected by the epidemic. Manufacturers are also expected to increase production.

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On Wednesday, the WHO had declared the highest level of alert due to the spread of the new mpox variant 1b in several African countries.

Questioned on this subject, the FOPH considers that the risk of contagion in Switzerland is very low, and that the majority of people at risk in Switzerland have been vaccinated.

The disease, known for decades as monkeypox, can be transmitted by animals, but also from human to human in the event of close contact, for example during sexual intercourse. Symptoms include smallpox-like pustules on the skin, fever and pain in the limbs.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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