Baden-Württemberg: Almost 430 monkeypox vaccinations so far in Baden-Württemberg

In Baden-Württemberg, only part of the available vaccine doses against monkeypox have been administered so far.

Baden-Württemberg: Almost 430 monkeypox vaccinations so far in Baden-Württemberg

In Baden-Württemberg, only part of the available vaccine doses against monkeypox have been administered so far. The country expects several thousand additional doses over the next two months.

Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - In Baden-Württemberg, almost 430 vaccinations against monkeypox were administered by the beginning of August. This was announced by a spokesman for the Ministry of Social Affairs of the German Press Agency (dpa). Up to this point, 2980 vaccine doses were available. A good 140 diseases were reported to the state health department by Tuesday. Nationwide, the number of known cases on Tuesday was just under 3330.

"In the last three weeks, a significant decrease in the number of cases has been observed," said the spokesman for the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Social Affairs. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the nationwide numbers have also been declining slightly since the beginning of August.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) recently called on the federal states with only a few cases to deliver the vaccine to the state of Berlin, where there are particularly many monkeypox cases. However, Baden-Württemberg has not given a vaccine to the federal capital because it is also needed in the south-west, the state Ministry of Social Affairs said.

Baden-Württemberg expects 2000 to 2200 more doses of vaccine between the end of August and the beginning of September. At the end of September, 17,000 additional doses of vaccine are expected to reach Baden-Württemberg.

The first case of monkeypox in Germany became known in May. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs in Stuttgart, the virus infection is transmitted from person to person through close physical contact. "The risk is not just limited to people who are sexually active," the ministry's website said. "All people who have close physical contact with an infectious person are potentially at risk."

The Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) recommends that certain groups and people who have had close contact with infected people get vaccinated against monkeypox. Two doses are recommended for primary vaccination. The main purpose of the second dose, which should be given at least 28 days apart, is to prolong the protection of the vaccine.