After receiving an opinion from HAS, the government will offer monkey pox vaccination to all "most exposed" groups, including homosexuals, transgender people and people who are involved in prostitution.
On Friday, the HAS recommended that vaccination be extended to these groups. "This opinion will follow", was announced shortly after Jerome Salomon (Director General of Health), made a briefing.
He said that new categories of people who are eligible for preventive vaccines "will be able, if they want to, start making appointments as soon as next week".
According to a statement, "Faced by the spread of Monkeypox virus and the kinetics associated with it, as well as the difficulties in tracing the contacts for infected persons", Friday's HAS recommendation was to increase the vaccine to be able preventively administered to those most vulnerable "due to their sexual practices or profession."
The HAS stated that this recommendation applies to "men who have had sex with women and trans people reporting multiple partners, people involved in prostitution, professionals in sexual consumption places, regardless of their status".
According to the most recent figures, 721 cases in France have been confirmed as of July 7, including 473 in Ile-de-France.
In France, 98% have reported cases of sexual orientation involving men who have had sex with other men (MSM). 75% of the cases with information are reported to have had at least one sexual partner in the three weeks preceding the onset symptoms.
The HAS doesn't recommend preventive vaccination for healthcare professionals who care for patients at this time. This is because the usual hygiene measures and personal protective equipment make the risk of contamination "very low in practice".
She added that this vaccine can be considered on a case-by–case basis depending on the individual risk factors and their requests.
The High Authority for Health had recommended that all adults be vaccinated, even health professionals who were in close contact with patients.
The Ministry of Health had taken her into custody at the end of last Week to determine which populations should be vaccinated to reduce the risk of contamination in people at high risk of contracting the virus.
LGBTQI associations, certain professionals in health, and more recently left-wing parties had asked the ministry for an extension to men who have had sex with other males.
Friday Cecile Somaribba (director of monitoring and security at the Regional Health Agency in Ile-de-France) said that vaccinations will be available to the public starting next week at 12 sites in Ile-de-France. France.
The vaccine is known in Europe as Imvanex. It is a third-generation vaccine (nonreplicating live vaccine), which is approved in Europe since 2013. It is indicated against smallpox for adults.
Jerome Salomon assured that "we are now in a position to meet the needs at the centers in the next weeks", and did not mention "difficulties accessing this vaccine".
