Netherlands to vaccinate those at risk of contracting monkeypox

The Dutch health authorities are preparing a vaccination campaign for people most at risk of being infected with the monkeypox virus. Public Health Minister Ernst Kuipers adopted advice from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) to do so, he said to parliament.

“A group of approximately 2,000 people from the HIV-PrEp target group in Amsterdam will be vaccinated as soon as possible, while preparations are being made for the vaccination of the broader target group in parallel,” Kuipers said.

The vaccination is intended for high-risk groups. According to the RIVM, this includes men and transgender people who use HIV-PrEP (a pill that can prevent contracting HIV) or are on the waiting list for it. Men and transgender people who are HIV-positive and at high risk of a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and sex workers are also in the high-risk group. It concerns about 32,000 people in the Netherlands.

People who qualify for the vaccination will get an invitation. They will get two doses four weeks apart. “It is very important that people with symptoms or possible exposure remain cautious, even after vaccination,” Kuipers wrote. “After all, it will take several weeks for the vaccine to provide protection, especially in people who need two vaccinations, and the vaccination will not offer full protection.”

Kuipers hopes the vaccination campaign will “prevent monkeypox from spreading more widely and becoming an endemic disease that we can no longer control.”

The Minister also instructed the RIVM to increase communication about the monkeypox virus to the risk groups.