Brazil expands mpox vaccine purchase to 25,000 doses amid rising cases

Brazil's Health Minister Alexandre Padilha announced on Sunday that the ministry expanded its mpox vaccine purchase to 25,000 doses. The acquisition is being made through the Pan American Health Organization's Revolving Fund, the regional arm of the World Health Organization in the Americas. Padilha said the order was increased from 20,000 to 25,000 doses from the only laboratory producing vaccines pre-qualified by the World Health Organization.

The ministry has already sent an additional 2,000 doses to Rio de Janeiro, which is experiencing a rise in cases, to strengthen its protection strategy. Padilha noted that diagnoses are increasing in some capitals but remain far below the figures from the global 2022 outbreak. He said the surveillance system detected an increase in some capitals, though it is smaller than in previous years and much smaller than the 2022 outbreak of 11,000 cases.

“There is no mass vaccination”

Because of the limited global supply of doses, vaccination is restricted to specific groups at higher risk of exposure or severe disease. In Brazil, the strategy covers people living with HIV/AIDS with immunosuppression, defined as a CD4 lymphocyte count below 100 cells per cubic millimeter. The vaccine is administered in two doses with a 28-day interval between them.

When there are leftover doses, vaccination can be extended to people living with HIV/AIDS with a CD4 count below 200 cells per cubic millimeter, users of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, laboratory professionals working with Orthopoxvirus, and individuals who had direct medium or high-risk contact with a suspected or confirmed mpox case after health surveillance evaluation.

The ministry explained that there is a global shortage of the vaccine because only one laboratory, located in Denmark and certified by the World Health Organization, produces the immunizer. Nine federation units were supplied with 3,650 doses, including Rio de Janeiro, Ceará, and the Federal District.

As of November 6 this year, Brazil confirmed 832 cases of the disease and recorded one death. The increase in cases is concentrated in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Ceará, as well as the Federal District. Symptoms usually last two to four weeks and include skin eruptions, fever, headache, muscle pain, chills, and weakness.

The ministry issued a technical note last week guiding states and municipalities to adopt intradermal application of the vaccine. Used in Europe, the measure allows up to five times more people to be vaccinated with one dose of the immunizer in specific groups.