The Department of Health (DOH) said they are in the middle of discussions with the United States (US) to secure vaccines for monkeypox as the Philippines logged its first-ever case of the disease.
DOH alternate spokesperson Undersecretary Beverly Ho said only a few of the population will be vaccinated.
“Well, now our discussions are ongoing. I think we have mentioned it in our previous press conferences, we are working with the US government to secure the vaccines,” Ho said at a briefing in Malacañang.
“There is not a lot that is available in the market also, that it is only a select population group that will have to be vaccinated. Again, it is not like Covidthat all of us need to be vaccinated,” she added.
US health authorities said they are releasing 56,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine to places with high transmission rates as part of a major escalation of the country’s immunization strategy.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) only advised monkeypox vaccines to be given to those who had confirmed exposures.
The DOH said that surveillance systems are in place. Ho asked for public vigilance.
“There is a very clear need to be more careful who we interact with particularly sexual intimate contact. I think what is clear to us… we are working closely with those population groups so that they will have better preparation, risk perception that this is a disease that will probably concern them more than the general population,” Ho said.
— Ronald Espartinez