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The public health agency said it received a “very limited supply” of the vaccine on Thursday and began distributing it over the weekend to select people in Ottawa.
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June 19, 2022 • 13 minutes ago • 2 minutes reading • Join the conversation SHEET PHOTO: This illustration shows test tubes labeled “positive and negative for smallpox virus. monkey “made on May 23, 2022. Photo by DADO RUVIC / REUTERS
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Ottawa Public Health has begun distributing a limited supply of smallpox, a smallpox vaccine, to those most at risk of becoming infected with the virus.
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The public health agency said it received a “very limited supply” of the vaccine on Thursday and began distributing it over the weekend to select people in Ottawa.
In a Twitter thread, the city’s public health agency said the vaccine was offered to “people of the highest priority according to the latest provincial eligibility criteria.”
“As supply increases, we will continue to work with community partners to expand access to anyone eligible,” Ottawa Public Health (OPH) said.
No one from OPH was available on Sunday to describe how many people received the vaccine over the weekend.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smallpox vaccines are effective in protecting people from monkeypox, as both viruses belong to the same family. Imvamune, a third-generation smallpox vaccine, has been approved for use in Canada to prevent smallpox since 2013 and was most recently approved for smallpox use.
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OPH has reported a confirmed case of smallpox in the city and two suspicious cases.
According to Public Health Ontario, there are 30 confirmed cases of smallpox in the province, with the vast majority (26) in Toronto. All confirmed cases are men, but six women are among the 27 suspected and probable cases in the province.
In Toronto, the city’s public health unit hosted two weekend vaccination clinics for people over the age of 18 who belong “to the community of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.”
Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headache, exhaustion, and rash with lesions. The rash often appears on the face and limbs a few days after the other symptoms, and can spread to other parts of the body.
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Most people recover on their own without treatment.
The Ottawa AIDS Committee will hold an online briefing to discuss monkeypox on Wednesday evening with Dr. Paul MacPherson, an infectious disease expert at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
A summary of information on the smallpox outbreak, published earlier this month by Public Health Ontario, said early epidemiological evidence suggests that the virus can be transmitted by close human-to-human contact, including contact. sexual.
“The reported cases have been self-identified primarily, but not exclusively, in men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking care in primary care and sexual health clinics,” the health agency said.
Smallpox is endemic to Central and West Africa, but there have been outbreaks in other parts of the world due to international travel or the importation of infected animals.
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