Quebec will start vaccinating some people against smallpox vaccine to fight the spread of monkeypox in the Montreal area.
Quebec’s director of public health, Dr Luc Boalo, said on Thursday that 25 cases of monkeypox had been confirmed in the province. Fourteen of them are in the city of Montreal, although all cases are related to the greater Montreal area.
Another 20 to 30 cases are also under investigation, Boalo said.
Boalo stressed that the spread of monkeypox is a “serious situation”, but said it did not cover populations like COVID-19, for example.
“We do not expect a quick, huge number of cases,” he explained. “That’s why we think it can be eradicated.”
To that end, Boalo said the smallpox vaccine – which has not been routinely offered in Canada for decades – will be offered to those at high risk of infection, such as those who have been in contact with confirmed cases.
Boalo said the province has access to hundreds of ready-made doses, but vaccination will only take place after a public health recommendation. It will not be open to the general public.
Dr Caroline Quatch, president of the Quebec Immunization Committee, said vaccination within four days of contact had a “very good” chance of preventing the disease.
The goal will be to vaccinate the targets within those four days, but vaccination could be offered up to 14 days later, she said.
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Currently, the “majority” of cases are elderly men who have had sex with men, Boalo said. There is one case involving a minor, said Boalo, who went to school after the exhibition.
But the virus needs close and prolonged contact to spread, Kuach said, “so it’s not as if an entire classroom will be suddenly affected,” as would be the case with more advanced diseases such as coronavirus.
Boalo clarified that the government “is not in a state of community concern” when it comes to monkeypox.
Montreal’s medical officer in charge of emergencies and infectious diseases, Dr Genevieve Bergeron, added that contact tracking and isolation were also used to prevent the spread.
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