UK to offer vaccines to some gay, bisexual men for monkeypox
Associated PressLONDON — British health officials will start offering vaccines to some men who have sex with men and are at the highest risk of catching monkeypox, in an effort to curb the biggest outbreak of the disease beyond Africa. “By expanding the vaccine offer to those at higher risk, we hope to break chains of transmission and help contain the outbreak,” said the Health Security Agency’s head of immunization, Dr. Mary Ramsay. Last month, a leading adviser to the World Health Organization said that the monkeypox outbreak beyond Africa was likely spread by sexual activity by men at raves in Spain and Belgium. Last week, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the continued spread of monkeypox in countries that haven’t previously seen the disease as “unusual and concerning.” Tedros is convening an expert meeting Thursday to decide if the expanding monkeypox outbreak warrants being declared a global emergency.