The time between the two doses of vaccination against monkeypox, previously 28 days, has been extended for non-immunocompromised people, the Ministry of Health said Thursday, August 4.
“
As part of the preventive vaccination strategy (…) and in order to guarantee the greatest number of people at risk access to vaccination
”, the ministry declared to AFP that it had “
recommended to vaccination sites , in accordance with the opinion of the HAS of July 7, to lengthen the spacing between the first and the second dose for non-immunocompromised people
”.
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Two doses of vaccine are recommended for most eligible people, mainly men who have sex with men.
For those vaccinated against smallpox in the past, one dose is sufficient.
For the immunocompromised, a third is recommended.
Testimonies have reported in recent days of cancellations of appointments for a second dose.
The ministry stressed that "
already scheduled second dose appointments should not be cancelled
" and that "
patients whose second dose would be assessed as a priority by a physician for health, treatment or exposure reasons, will benefit from an appointment
”.
On the other hand, “
unscheduled second dose appointments can be scheduled later
”.
The High Authority for Health had recommended, in its opinion at the beginning of July, a vaccination schedule “
of two doses, spaced 28 days apart
” but indicated “
that a spacing of the doses of several weeks could be envisaged in the event of supply tension of the vaccines
”.
Asked whether the extension of the deadline was linked to such tension, the ministry reaffirmed to AFP on Thursday that “
there is no tension in the supply of vaccines
”.
The Minister of Health François Braun repeated on Wednesday, during his first visit to a vaccination center against monkeypox, that France had "
enough to vaccinate the target population (...) namely 250,000 people
".
After recalling the destocking of 42,000 doses, he assured that the government is "
able to increase vaccinations according to needs
".
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So far, some 18,500 people have received a first dose of the vaccine.
“
Whatever the effectiveness of the vaccine after one or two doses, it will never be 100%
,” the ministry warned on Thursday, insisting on prevention in parallel.
According to a count stopped Tuesday August 2 by the health authorities, 2239 cases have been confirmed in France.
Unlike other countries like Spain, there are no deaths to report.