Germany examining whether any available mpox vaccines could be donated

BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The German government is examining whether any available national mpox vaccine doses could be donated, the health ministry said in a status report for August that was seen by Reuters on Friday.

The ministry said it has given its remaining stock of the Jynneos vaccine to the defence ministry and the German army.

The federal government has around 117,000 doses of Jynneos, which is being stockpiled by the German army, after Berlin procured it in 2022, a ministry spokesperson said this week.

International aid measures, such as donations from the European Commission, are underway, though details need to be clarified both in Europe and locally, the ministry added.

The European Union has urged its members to coordinate their donations of mpox vaccines to African countries, rather than do this individually. The European Commission has a joint procurement contract with vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic, to buy vaccines for donations.

"European donations will have more immediate impact if they are coordinated," EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a letter dated Aug. 22 that was addressed to the health ministers of EU countries.

Germany so far has no reported cases of the clade 1 strain of mpox that has triggered global concern due to the ease with which it spreads though routine close contact, it said.

The ministry added that the government was closely monitoring the situation but it did not see an increased risk from clade 1 in Germany, which it assumes could also be contained effectively with the currently available mpox vaccines.

(Reporting by Christian Kraemer and Kate Abnett; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Andrey Sychev and Shounak Dasgupta)