In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta published on Wednesday, she noted that "based on the current assessments of risks and benefits, mass inoculation against monkeypox is currently not needed."
"All the decisions related to immunization with vaccines against smallpox or monkeypox should be made based on a joint decision between a doctor and a candidate for vaccination on a case-by-case basis. The fight against monkeypox outbreaks, above all, depends on public health measures, including the epidemiological surveillance, tracking contacts, isolation and care for those sick. While it is expected that smallpox vaccines may provide some protection against monkeypox, currently, clinical data are limited," she added.
According to the official, since May 2022, the WHO has received reports on more than 3,000 cases of the disease from 50 countries and territories in five WHO regions. "The majority of cases were recorded in the WHO European Region (Russia is one of 53 member states of this region)," she added.
The WHO representative also noted that on June 23, the WHO held a meeting of a committee on extraordinary events in order to assess the current monkeypox outbreak. "Members of the committee came to a conclusion that currently the outbreak does not represent an extraordinary event with an international significance. Yet it was noted that the event is of an extraordinary nature so intensive response measures are needed to control the further spread," she concluded.
