Munich (dpa / lby) - Bavaria has started vaccination against monkeypox. The first people were vaccinated on Thursday evening in the Munich University Hospital on the right hand side of the Isar, Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) said on Friday. "Further vaccinations in other administrative districts can start next week."
The federal government had delivered the first vaccine doses from the Bavarian-Danish manufacturer Bavarian Nordic on Thursday evening. "In the first tranche we now have around 4,400 vaccine doses available," said Holetschek. They are working flat out on the Bavaria-wide distribution. "Vaccinations against the monkeypox virus are carried out in specialist practices and outpatient clinics for HIV care and HIV prevention (PrEP)."
The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) in Germany recommends vaccination against monkeypox for certain risk groups and people who have had close contact with infected people. The virus usually causes mild symptoms that usually disappear within a few weeks. But it can also have serious consequences.
In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) registered 1,490 monkeypox infections as of Friday. According to the current state of knowledge, the actually rare viral disease, of which several thousand cases have been detected worldwide, is mainly transmitted through close physical contact from person to person.
