11 monkeypox vaccination centres to open from Monday – RTE.ie

The Health Service Executive intends on completing monkeypox vaccinations for high priority groups by the end of the year.

Representatives from the HSE told the Oireachtas Health Committee today that 11 designated vaccination centres will open across the country from Monday, 17 October.

Individuals will be asked to self-identify their risk and book a vaccine appointment.

The HSE estimates that between 6,000 and 13,000 people would benefit from a primary prevention monkeypox vaccine.

The roll-out to high priority groups is already under way, with almost 500 people vaccinated so far, however Monday will mark a significant expansion.

TDs and Senators were told this morning that the aim is to complete vaccinations for high priority groups between now and December.

However, some queried how such a target could be met when the international supply of Monkeypox vaccine is limited.

"That community of 13,000 people ... only a fraction of those will actually be offered a vaccine in the short to medium term", Sinn Fin's Health Spokesperson David Cullinane told the committee.

Dr Ciaran Bannan, Consultant in Infectious Diseases, St James's Hospital, accepted that there are currently not enough doses to meet the overall 13,000 people that would benefit from a vaccine. However, he told members that it was hoped that further supplies would soon be secured.

To date over 2,000 vials of monkeypox vaccination have been sourced.

In August, the European Medicines Agency also advised that the vaccine could be administered intra-dermally, meaning vaccine vials can go further and provide more doses.

According to the EMA, one vial can provide five doses. In practice, the committee was told that vaccine administrators usually get four doses per vial.

Two doses of monkeypox vaccine are administered at least 28 days apart.

Politicians also heard that 194 cases of the disease have been notified in Ireland, with 11 of those requiring hospitalisation.

Cases are predominately male, and the mean age is 35 years.

Deputy Neasa Hourigan expressed concern over the financial challenges that people may face, particularly those in precarious work, if required to self-isolate.

"We're not supporting people financially the way we did during Covid," she told the Committee.

In response, Professor Fiona Lyons, Clinical Lead for Sexual Health, said that the HSE had "raised that [issue] with the Department".

Read more:Monkeypox cases top 70,000, says WHO

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11 monkeypox vaccination centres to open from Monday - RTE.ie